Lack of toilets at flood shelters in Pakistan leave women and girls in misery

Devastating floods in Pakistan left thousands of people struggling to meet their basic needs in the flood-stricken regions. The monsoon floods killed more than 1,200 people and have put nearly a third of the country under water.

In Pakistan's Sindh province, the overflowing Indus river on the outskirts of Hyderabad city impacted thousands of people, who ended up in makeshift huts on a dry patch of land.

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Aerial video taken by a drone shows that agricultural and residential areas in Sindh province are completely submerged in water, with just the tops of trees and buildings visible.

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As quoted by news agency Reuters, an unidentified elderly man said, "Our cattle, beddings, and utensils all were swept away. People hardly managed to save their lives. But still, there is nobody here to ask in what condition they are."

On the other hand, a local woman, Sakina Bibi, said, "There were around 200 to 250 people living here. We got out (from homes) in such desperation that we were in sleeping dresses. Our homes were destroyed with our belongings inside. Even some thatched huts fell down upon children."

People in the Punjab province are also taking refuge in tents in the area around a small rural railway station, which can be reached only by a narrow road.

'No place for showering or going to the bathroom'

People are facing multiple challenges while living in makeshift tents, which can be inhabitable in some regions. In the surrounding, the odour is a heady mix of rotting vegetation from drowned crops, leftover food scraps and garbage, also the accumulated excrement of the hundreds of people and livestock gathered there.

As quoted by news agency AFP, Zebunnisa Bibi said, "There is no place for showering or going to the bathroom." Zebunnisa was forced to flee with her family two weeks ago when floodwater inundated her village.

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Health catastrophe

In the affected areas, thousands of people are living in tents camps that are mushroomed across the south and west of the country.

AFP reported that a lack of functioning toilets at these camps is one of the biggest issues. It is posing a health hazard for all, but misery in particular for women and girls.

There are rising threats of the breakout of diseases and infections as swarms of flies and mosquitoes add to the misery. Some women have stopped venturing into the floodwater to relieve themselves after many developed rashes.

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A recent report by Pakistan daily newspaper noted that as per the World Health Organisation (WHO), nearly 900 health facilities have been damaged, 180 of them completely destroyed.

Dawn reported that in August alone nearly 200,000 cases of acute watery diarrhoea and dysentery had been reported among children in the Sindh province.

The report also mentioned that this is a humanitarian disaster in the making.

The national disaster agency said that the flooding has impacted 33 million people and killed at least 1,325, including 466 children.

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