Islamabad 29 August : The devastating flash floods in Pakistan have caused the country with a loss of at minimum $10 billion to various sectors of the country’s economy as per Minister for Finance Miftah Ismail.Miftah said that these were first assessments that could change when he conducts surveys on the ground.The News reported.
The Minister, however did not have specifics of the losses incurred by every section of the economy at the moment.
If asked if the country has taken the donors’ word regarding the initial assessment of the damage, he replied in the negative.
Official sources from top positions have said that Islamabad will first seek financial aid from the international community.
then assess the damage on its own or in conjunction with the donor community to figure out the exact numbers however, first of all, the government would concentrate on a massive relief effort in order to save the victims.
In the earthquake of 2005 and the 2010 floods, Pakistan and donors assessed the damage to various sectors of economy, and the donors assisted Islamabad in the rebuilding phase following the relief and rehabilitation, The News reported.
The same strategy could be followed.
Initial assessments indicate that over 1,000 people as well as millions of livestock have died in different regions of the country.
In addition, there has been the destruction to an uncountable number of hotels, homes, and roads in the major flood-prone areas of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Since the continuous torrential rain and subsequent floods that followed in June, more than 1000 people have died and 1,527 others injured, while 949,858 homes were completely or partially destroyed in the disaster, leaving millions of people homeless in the country according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) declared in its most recent update.
According to NDMA the victims include the 348 children as well as 207 women.
Sindh province was the most affected region during the monsoon season in which 347 were killed and another 1,009 wounded in diverse accidents.
Around 3,451 kilometers of roads as well as 149 bridges and 170 shops were destroyed by flash floods that swept across the country.
A total of 719,558 animals perished in the floods across the country.
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