Sajid Irfan

Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has distributed more than Rs63 billion among 2.5 million flood-hit families. However, many other victims of the natural catastrophe still await assistance, WealthPK reports.

The recent devastating floods have affected almost 33 million people in different parts of Pakistan. BISP needs more assistance from international donors to provide relief to the flood survivors in the country.

Flood-affected families are waiting in queues for cash assistance

An official of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) told WealthPK that Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Shazia Marri had sought assistance from international financial institutions to provide relief to the flood-affected people in the country. Many flood survivors have not received cash assistance from BISP so far.

“Around 33 million people have been affected by the floods and it is impossible to provide cash assistance to them without the cooperation of international financial institutions,” said the minister. She said that currently BISP was operational in 29 districts and more facilitation centres were being established in other districts to address stunting among the poor, lactating women and their children less than two years of age.

She said that Pakistan appreciated the role of the World Bank as a major development partner. The World Bank has provided continuous and valuable support to BISP for strengthening the social protection system in the country. Pakistan hopes to get further help from the World Bank to assist flood victims.

The official said that BISP allocated Rs1 billion for providing specialised nutritious food to 900,000 pregnant and lactating women and children under two years in the flood-affected areas. The medical teams of BISP are also busy in treating women and children in the areas.

He said that so far, BISP had distributed almost Rs63 billion among 2.5 million families affected by the recent floods. He said that 190,783 affected families in Balochistan were provided with emergency cash assistance and 1,738,587 families in Sindh got cash assistance.

The official said that 285,434 affected families in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 312,019 in Punjab while 430 families in Gilgit-Baltistan received financial support from BISP.

He said that more medical assistance was also required as many harmful diseases were spreading after floods in Pakistan. Many cases of different diseases including typhoid, cholera and diarrhoea have been reported in Balochistan and Sindh. Some diseases are also caused by the lack of clean drinking water. The diseases will continue to affect more people if precautionary measures are not taken.

The official said that 801,633 houses were completely destroyed and 1.5 million others were partially damaged by the floods. The devastating floods affected millions of people in 116 districts across the country. Thousands of flood survivors are living in tents.

The floods have also washed away nearly 13,000 kilometres of roads, 374 bridges and many buildings across the country.

The official said that more than eight million acres of farmlands were also destroyed by the recent floods in the country. The destruction of agricultural land and other infrastructure by floods poses a serious threat to food security and can increase inflation in the country.

“The floods have caused losses of about $30 billion to the country. It requires international financing to recover from these losses,” he told WealthPK.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk