ISLAMABAD: NDMA Chairman Dr. Zafar Iqbal Qadir has said that $ 400
million is needed for relief and rehabilitation activities in flood hit
areas of Sindh and Balochistan.
Addressing a press conference
here at PID on Wednesday, he said that so far only 35 percent of the
needed fund for flood hit areas was received.
National Disaster
Management Authority (NDMA) had assessed that 357 million in US dollar
was needed for relief and rehabilitation of the flood hit areas, he
informed. Nevertheless, he hoped that the remaining amount would reach
till the end of December. “No country in the world has till now received
hundred percent of the pledged assistance, but I hope that like last
year we would receive at least 70 percent of the pledged amount,” he
added.
The chairman said that NDMA had hold a meeting with the
concerned provincial officials and informed them of new assessment of
the situation, they would return with demands after consulting the
relative governments in Sindh and Balochistan.
Earlier, food
supplies and tents, Qadir said, was the focus of the activities but now
when majority of the people have returned to their hometowns and
agriculture was rehabilitated the mode of assistance need to be changed
as well.
He said that 100,000 families of the affected families
are still living in temporary shelters but 90 percent of the affectees
have returned to their houses and 10 percent area in Sindh would not be
cultivable till January.
He also informed that now that
international donor agencies as well as the government have decided that
only 15 percent management fee would be allowed to implementing
partners.
Giving data of the damages caused by the floods in
2011 in the two provinces, he said that disaster had affected 5.15
million of the population and damaged 800,000 houses while 330,000
houses completely destroyed besides heavy losses to infrastructure in
the affected area. The flood also destroyed 200 health facilities and 9,
781 schools that affected more than a million school going children, he
further said.
Turning to damages in agriculture, he said that 2.28 million acres of crop land was lost and 116, 557 cattle heads perished.
“After
floods there has been a 10 percent decrease in the number of people
getting water from protected sources and a 5 percent decease in water
supplied through pipeline was noted in the affected areas,” he said.
However, he said that now the situation had a little bit improved and health situation as per UN report is normal. Online
