Urgent humanitarian assistance needed:NHA

Urgent humanitarian assistance needed:NHA
PESHAWAR, July 31: Various civil society organisations under the banner of the Network for Humanitarian Assistance have appealed to the donor agencies, federal government, political parties and philanthropists to immediately provide relief to the rains and flood-affected people. Speaking at a joint press conference at Peshawar Press Club here on Saturday, representatives of the NGOs led by Ijaz Durrani, Idress Kamal and Zar Ali Khan said that large number of people across the province needed food, medicines and shelter on emergency basis. It was not possible for the provincial government to meet the requirements of these people, they said, adding that it was obligation of the federal government, overseas Pakistanis, United Nations, foreign missions, international community, NGOs and well-off people to help them. They feared that if the needy people were not supported promptly, there was a likelihood of the loss of human lives on large-scale. Immediate work, they said, was to rescue the people stranded at different buildings and provide them with food items. Referring to the official figure of the death toll (450), they said the actual number might be much higher as, according to them, there was no access of government to the flood-hit areas and telephone network was also not functioning to get exact information. The NGOs representatives pointed out human losses, destruction of government installations, infrastructure and livestock in Malakand, Dir, Swat, Nowshera, Charsadda, Peshawar, Fata, Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, Lakki Marwat, Bannu, Mansehara, Haripur and other areas. Presently, they said, helicopters could prove useful for the transportation of relief goods, including food, to the stranded people as vehicles could not move in the floodwater and mud. They said arrangements for the affected people were deficient and most of them were living under open sky, and could mot move as floods had swept away the link roads and bridges. Muhammad Idrees kamal 0300-5862104 Zar Ali Khan musazai Srd.org.pk@gmail.com 0315-9195919 idreeskamal@gmail.com
- Z.A. Musazai -