Major cities in Pakistan at risk of flooding: NDMA

LAHORE: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) warned that the major cities of Pakistan will be inundated if the drainage systems are not replaced immediately, Express 24/7 reported on Monday.

NDMA Chairman Dr Zafar Iqbal Qadir said 209 people have died and approximately five million people have been affected. Crops over millions of acres have been completely destroyed in this year’s flash floods.

A survey conducted by the NDMA revealed that the drainage systems of Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Peshawar among other cities fail to properly draw off water.

Heaps of garbage along with accumulated water and overflowing gutters can also be seen in these cities.

The NDMA has also notified that widespread devastation would be inevitable if steps are not taken to curb the issue.

Flooding has killed about 200 people, destroyed or damaged nearly one million houses and flooded 4.2 million acres of land since late August, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Pakistan is still haunted by memories of the 2010 floods which killed about 2,000 people and made 11 million homeless in one of the country’s worst natural disasters.

One-fifth of Pakistan was then submerged in water — an area the size of Italy — and the government, which was widely accused of reacting too slowly, faced $10 billion (6.3 billion pounds) in damages to infrastructure, irrigation systems, bridges, houses and roads.