Pakistan braces for deluge from swollen rivers
Pakistan's flooded southern Sindh province braced on Sunday for a fresh deluge from swollen rivers in the north as the death toll from this year's monsoon topped 1,000. The mighty Indus River that courses through Pakistan's second-most populous region is fed by dozens of mountain tributaries to the north, but many have burst their banks following record rains and glacier melt. Officials warned torrents of water are expected to reach Sindh in the next few days, adding misery to millions already affected by the floods. "Right now, Indus is in high flood," said Aziz Soomro, the supervisor of a barrage that regulates the river's flow near Sukkur. The annual monsoon is essential for irrigating crops and replenishing lakes and dams across the Indian subcontinent, but it also brings destruction. Officials say this year's monsoon flooding has affected more than 33 million people – one in seven Pakistanis – and destroyed or badly damaged nearly a million homes. On Sunday, the country's National Disaster Management Authority said the death toll from the monsoon rains had reached 1,033, with 119 killed in the previous 24 hours. It said this year's floods are comparable to those of 2010 – the worst on record – when over 2,000 people died and nearly a fifth of the country was under water. Thousands of people living near flood-swollen rivers in Pakistan's north were ordered to evacuate from danger zones, but army helicopters and rescuers are still plucking laggards to safety. "People were informed around three or four o'clock in the morning to evacuate their houses," said Umar Rafiq, a rescue worker. "When the flood water hit the area we had to rescue children and women." Officials blame the devastation on human-driven climate change, saying Pakistan is unfairly bearing the consequences of irresponsible environmental practices elsewhere in the world. Pakistan is eighth on NGO Germanwatch's Global Climate Risk Index, a list of countries deemed most vulnerable to extreme weather caused by climate change. Exacerbating the situation, corruption, poor planning and the flouting of local regulations mean thousands of buildings have been erected in areas prone to seasonal flooding. The government has declared an emergency and mobilised the military to deal with what Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman has called "a catastrophe of epic scale". (AFP)