It took farmer Ghulam Hussain almost a year to start re-building his
house, destroyed last year in floods that left vast swathes of Pakistan
underwater, and disrupted the lives of more than 18 million people.
Now, his small, two-room mud
and brick house -- just a few hundred metres from the Indus River -- is
almost complete, but he is worried as to how long it will survive.
"It took me a long time to
rebuild my house, as no one gave me any help," Hussain said as he along
with five of his relatives put the final touches to his house in the
southern province of Sindh.
"I am praying to God that this year the waters be kind to us," he said.
Pakistan remains woefully
unprepared for floods this year which a U.N. official said could affect
up to 5 million people in a worse-case scenario.
While a repeat of last year's
epic deluge is unlikely, even smaller floods could cause millions in
damages, set back reconstruction efforts and further unsettle the
government, already wracked by a shaky relationship with the United
States, a stagnant economy, a deadly Taliban insurgency and tense
relations with its neighbours.
All along the Indus, dikes and
embankments are incomplete, while international donations for
preparedness have fallen short. Sindh, home to the commercial and
industrial hub Karachi and one of last year's most hard-hit provinces,
is especially vulnerable to new flooding.
A visit by a Reuters
correspondent in rural Sindh revealed that most preparations the
government says are complete still need weeks of work -- and the rains
have already started.
"I don't think the government has done enough," Hussain said. "It is only up to God to save us."
As he spoke, he glanced at the
Tori bund (embankment), just a few hundred metres away in one of the
worst-hit areas of last year's floods. It was a poor defence against
the rage of the swollen Indus last year.
Last year's floods began in
late July after heavier-than-usual monsoon rains swelled the headwaters
of the Indus River basin, sending flash floods through the northwest
and inundating great swaths of the country.
Some 2,000 people died, 11
million left homeless and another 7 million people were affected. The
country suffered more than $10 billion (6.2 billion pounds) in damages
to infrastructure, irrigation systems, bridges, houses and roads.
One-fifth of Pakistan was submerged.
Aid organizations and the
government were criticized for being too slow to respond while the
military, widely seen as a far more efficient institution, took the
lead in relief operations.
But the United Nations says it working hard to stockpile food, water and tents in the event of more floods this year.
"Since the beginning of March,
we have been in close contact with the government to make sure response
is up and running and that we are better prepared this year," Manuel
Bessler, head of the U.N. emergencies office (OCHA) in Pakistan, said
in a recent interview. Reuters 