Catastrophic floods devastate Pakistan with death toll nearly 1300, hundreds of thousands of people are living in relief camps

The flood situation in Pakistan is grim. Death toll is nearly 1,300 even as relief operations continue. Humanitarian aid in the form of basic necessities like food, shelter, medicines are the need of the hour. Aid has started to flow in from a number of countries. The first such assistance flight from France has landed in Islamabad. Innumerable number of people are forced to live in relief camps across Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Punjab. Agencies of the government as well as private NGOs are continuing with their relief operations. These are described as a "humanitarian disaster of epic proportions." Large portions of the country continue to be submerged under water. This is especially in the provinces of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh in the south. On a rough estimate, nearly 1.5 million houses have suffered damages. Moreover, a large number of livestock has perished in the floods. 1,300 Dead In Pakistan's Devastating Floods, Over 5 Lakh Displaced.

Initial estimate of the damages have been put at USD 10 billion. However, international organizations are carrying out surveys. More than 700,000 families have received a lump some cash relief (per family). An amount of ₹ 18.25 billion has been already been disbursed on this account. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif went to a social media platform and wrote - "Despite challenges, Benazir Income Support Programme rolled out its operations within no time.” The authorities have called on the international community to support Pakistan. They have also assured the nation that the government would try to bring back normalcy at the earliest. The floods have drowned nearly a third of the country and affected more than 33 million people. The natural calamity came after four heatwaves and multiple raging forest fires. These highlight the effects of climate change in this part of Asia.

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The quality of air in Singapore is affected as thick smog came in from forest fires on Indonesia's neighboring island of Sumatra and the administration ordered emergency closure of schools once air pollution reached "hazardous" levels. Singapore takes pride on its clean environment. The fire in Sumatra was an agricultural fire.
This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 24 September 2015.

The shutdown order would affect primary and secondary schools apart from kindergartens run by the ministry and special education schools. However, parents who cannot make alternative arrangements because of the short notice can continue to send their children to school and they would be accommodated in air-conditioned rooms.
Due to the smog, there were fewer people on the roads and those who came out wore face masks. Moreover, Pizza Hut suspended its delivery service.
In the opinion of the National Environment Agency, the haze situation could become worse because of the prevailing winds.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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The United States is facing the brunt of forest fires all across its northern and western parts and have now requested firefighters of New Zealand for assistance to contain these fires. Accordingly, a team of fifteen Kiwi firefighters are joining the battle against the wildfires.
The team would leave for the National Interagency Fire Centre in Boise, Idaho from where they would proceed to Washington, Montana, California or Oregon depending on the situation.
This has been reported in nzhearld.co.nz dated 21 August 2015.

The Kiwi team of rural firefighters had just returned from a month-long stint in Canada last week and have to contain the fires in the US. Already, fires in Oregon and Washington have burnt more than 200,000 hectares in the past few days, and those in California have destroyed nearly 50,000 hectares this year.
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