Camps abandoned as flood waters continue to rise

9 August 2010: Half the camps set up to deal with the floods in Pakistan have now been abandoned as waters continue to rise, says Plan.

Camps are being moved to higher grounds wherever possible, but other sites, many of them used in the 2005 floods, have been vacated as they are no longer safe from flooding.

Fears over reservoirs and canals overflowing in Sindh and Southern Punjab have created an exodus of some 500,000 people.

Aid distributed

Plan managed to distribute aid to thousands of families in the Muzaffargarh area before authorities ordered an evacuation of the city. Plan teams have now joined the movement of thousands north and relocated to Multan.

Many of these people had already fled the devastated Southern Punjab areas including Layyah, Rajanpur and Kot Addu.

“Most people are now on the road,” said acting Country Director of Plan in Pakistan, Rashid Javed, “Around 50% of camps are no longer safe.

“People have had to evacuate in emergency, now more than 80% of them are living outside camps, on road sides, high ground, wherever they can.”

He said families were being split as men escorted their families to camps and safe places and then went back to salvage whatever they could from their homes.

“It’s extremely dangerous and obviously distressing for all.”

Food security fears

Many people have had to abandon livestock, often their main livelihood and there are fears for food security in the coming months. The province of Punjab, known as the ‘bread basket’ of Pakistan, has lost around 1.4 million acres of harvested crops in the last week or so.

“The crops were ready for harvest and then it was time to plant the crops for the winter, but seeing the extent of damage caused by the water and mud we cannot even begin to assess the impact it will have in the coming months,” said Rashid.

Notes
In the Muzaffargarh area: Plan has distributed cooked food to around 12,000 people, distributed nutritional food packs for children to 500 families, health and hygiene kits to 420 families; repaired 65 camp latrines, built 10 new latrines, repaired 37 water pumps, installed lighting and distributed community sized tents.

For more information in Pakistan please contact:
Natasha Kamal:
Communications Manager
Tel: +9251 260 9436-41
Mobile: +92300 850 1967
Natasha.kamal@plan-international.org

At Plan International HQ
Stuart Coles
Senior Press Officer
+44 7500 066 891
Stuart.coles@plan-international.org