Pakistan struggles to deal with devastating floods, death toll exceeds 1,300

Following massive and devastating floods, Pakistani authorities are battling to keep the nation’s largest lake from overflowing its banks and drowning neighbouring towns. The disaster management agency said that the flood fatalities increased by another 24.

The agency reported that the monsoon rains and melting glaciers of the northern mountains of Pakistan caused floods and the death toll rose to 1,314, including 458 children.

The largest freshwater lake in Pakistan displacednearly 100,000 people from their homes in an effort to drain enough water to prevent the lake from overflowing. However, the lake’s water levels continue to be high.

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Recently, Miftah Ismail, the finance minister, said that the cost of damage is more than $160 million in aid to be helped by the UN for flood victims.

During an interview with CNBC, Ismail said, "The total damage is close to $10 billion, perhaps more." He further added, "Clearly it is not enough. In spite of meager resources Pakistan will have to do much of the heavy lifting, " Reuters reported.

Many believe that for an economy that already requires assistance from the International Monetary Fund, the floods are a tremendous strain on it. The South Asian country is receiving assistance from other countries.

On Monday (September 5), relief flights from the UN and countries like Turkmenistan and the UAE arrived, a foreign ministry official said.

The disaster management chief claimed that multiple climate change occurrences, such as four heatwaves and numerous forest fires, preceded the floods that submerged a third of the country and affected over 33 million people.

(With inputs from agencies)

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