Torrential monsoon rains continue to wreak havoc in Pakistan as flash floods have killed at least 33 people including 31 from a village near the Afghan border. The rains remained concentrated in the northwest province and the entire area of Khybher Pakthunkwa, is the worst hit.
Flood waters swept away a mosque, several houses and an army post in the remote village of Ursoon, reported the district mayor. Osama Waraich, another senior local official, added that eight bodies of the missing villagers had been found from the Afghan side and six soldiers were still missing.
Scientists attribute these floods to climate change, as severe weather in recent years has killed hundreds and destroyed huge tracts of prime farmland. This year too, in April rains and landslides killed 127 people in Pakistani Kashmir and for the past many years excess rainfall has affected more than a fifth of the country’s land mass with 2010 witnessing the worst floods that killed nearly 2,000 people and displaced 20 million.
This comes in the wake of the Uttarakhand flash floods, where till now 39 people have been killed and many more are missing. The MeT department has warned of heavy rainfall for a few more days. The relief and rescue operation is being carried out as National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), Army, Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), are deployed in the area.
