The mighty Indus River that cuts through Pakistan’s second most populous region is fed by dozens of mountain tributaries in the north, but many have burst their banks after record rainfall and melting glaciers. Officials have warned that torrential water is expected to reach Sindh in the coming days, adding misery to millions already affected by the floods. “Right now, the Indus is in high flood,” said Aziz Soomro, the supervisor of a dam that regulates the river’s flow near Sukkur. The annual monsoon is essential to irrigate crops and replenish lakes and dams across the Indian subcontinent, but it also brings disaster. Officials say this year’s monsoon floods have affected more than 33 million people – one in seven Pakistanis – destroying or severely damaging nearly a million homes. On Sunday, the country’s National Disaster Management Authority announced that the death toll from the monsoon rains had reached 1,033, with 119 deaths in the previous 24 hours. It said this year’s floods were comparable to 2010 – the worst on record – when more than 2,000 people died and almost a fifth of the country was under water. Thousands of people living near flood-swollen rivers in northern Pakistan have been ordered out of danger zones, but army helicopters and rescuers are still whisking stragglers to safety. “People were told around three or four in the morning to evacuate their homes,” rescue worker Umar Rafiq told AFP. “When the flood water hit the area, we had to rescue children and women.” Several rivers in the area – a scenic tourist destination with rugged mountains and valleys – have burst their banks, demolishing dozens of buildings, including a 150-room hotel that collapsed in a raging torrent. Hostel owner Nasir Khan, whose business was badly hit by the 2010 floods, said he lost everything. “It has washed away the rest of the hotel,” he said. – Officials blame the disaster on human-caused climate change, saying Pakistan is unfairly bearing the brunt of irresponsible environmental practices elsewhere in the world. Pakistan ranks eighth in NGO Germanwatch’s Global Climate Risk Index, a list of countries considered most vulnerable to extreme weather events caused by climate change. The worsening situation, corruption, poor planning and flouting of local regulations mean that thousands of buildings have been erected in areas prone to seasonal flooding. The government declared a state of emergency and mobilized the military to deal with what the climate change minister, Sherry Rehman, called a “disaster on an epic scale.” In parts of Sindh, the only dry land is elevated roads and railway tracks, next to which tens of thousands of poor rural people have taken refuge with their livestock. Near Sukkur, a line of tents stretched for 2km, with people still arriving in boats laden with wooden charpoy beds and pots and pans – the only possessions they could salvage. “The water started rising in the river since yesterday, flooding all the villages and forcing us to leave,” said laborer Wakeel Ahmed, 22. Barrage supervisor Soomro said each sluice was open to handle a river flow of more than 600,000 cubic meters per second. The flood could not have come at a worse time for Pakistan, where the economy is in freefall and former Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted by a no-confidence vote in parliament in April. While the capital Islamabad and the neighboring city of Rawalpindi have escaped the worst of the flooding, its effects were still felt. “Right now supplies are very limited,” said Mohammad Ismail, a produce shopkeeper in Rawalpindi. “Tomatoes, peas, onions and other vegetables are not available because of the floods,” he said, adding that prices were also skyrocketing.
