FLOODING IN A LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRY
BACKGROUND INFO
·
GNP
per capita ~$2700
·
Flooding
began in July 2010; at one point ~1/5
of Pakistan’s total land area was submerged including 69,000km2 of fertile crop land.
CAUSES
·
The river Indus normally floods every year but
in 2010 there was prolonged and heavy e.g. 274mm fell in 24 hours in Peshawar on July 29th
2010. More than half the normal monsoon rains fell in only a week instead of 3months.
One reason could have been unusual conditions in the polar jet stream.
·
The
river Indus carries a lot of sediment and mud from the Himalayas, which silts
up the channel and make it more prone to flooding.
·
Others think anthropogenic climate
change could have strengthened monsoon rains, whilst deforestation in the
Himalayas has reduced the river’s lag time.
·
Levees built for flood defence were breached
and caused sudden huge releases of floodwater.
·
The massive human impact occurred because 2/3rds
of
Pakistan’s citizens rely on agriculture for their income and many of them live
close to rivers for access to water and fertile alluvial soils.
·
In some places such as the Swat Valley, infrastructure had already been
weakened by the 2005 earthquake and not yet repaired.
IMPACTS
·
Flooding
submerged whole villages within the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, killing at
least 1,600 people, according to the UN. Twelve million were affected in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, while a further two million were affected in
Sindh.
·
Floods directly affected about 20 million people (more than the
boxing-day tsunami and Haiti earthquake combined), mostly by destruction of
property, livelihood and infrastructure including 100s of bridges and 200
health facilities.
·
The World Health Organization reported that ten million people were
forced to drink unsafe water.
·
The total economic impact may
have been as much as US$43 billion including damage to the important cotton
industry (Pakistan was previously the 4th largest cotton producer)
as 80% of fields were left waterlogged in some areas and crops and livestock
were drowned.
·
Illnesses such as gastroenteritis, diarrhoea,
and skin diseases occurred due to lack of clean drinking water and
sanitation. Pakistan also faced a malaria and
cholera outbreak.
·
There were also long-term impacts including: food insufficiencies
leading to malnutrition, damage to schools, Taliban insurgencies and an increase
from 33-40% of people living below the poverty line.
RESPOSES
·
France donated €1.05
million and 35 tonnes of emergency supplies including tarpaulins,
blankets, shelters and anti-cholera medicines, while the UK donated £134.5 million.
·
The United States donated
71 million dollars as well as 56,000
ready meals and two temporary bridges to help reconnect. They also built water
filtration plants.
·
However after 6 months charities were
surprised by the slow international response as only 56% of
the $1.96 billion requested by the Pakistani government had been given. This
could be due to the global phenomenon of “donor fatigue”. President
Zardari was also criticized for his slow response. Many felt the Pakistani Army
was slow to rebuild bridges, deliver aid or set up relief camps.
·
In the longer term flood warning systems are
being funded by charities such as Oxfam and the US government, including radio stations used to educate people of the danger of flood water
and the different toxins and diseases in it meaning that people will be
more prepared next time.
Discussion point: Who was worst affected by these floods?
Could they have been avoided?
