Chinese company gifts shoes worth Rs38m to flood affectees
A boy and a woman, who became displaced, take refuge in a camp, following rains and floods during the monsoon season in Sehwan, Pakistan September 15, 2022. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro
A Chinese shoe company on Sunday gifted sports shoes worth Rs38 million to victims of last year's catastrophic floods in Pakistan.
The company, China Leather Industry Association (CLIA), launched an initiative named “Put on Chinese Shoes, Rebuild New Home” in January.
According to the shoe company, it took this initiative to “express its care for the flood-affected people in Pakistan.”
Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Moin-ul-Haque expressed his sincere thanks to the company for its generous help to the flood-stricken groups in the country.
Haque said the donation once again made him feel the warmth of the Chinese people towards the people of Pakistan.
Read ‘India floodwater’ caused no harm
Torrential rains and unprecedented floods brought a third of Pakistan under water in 2022, affecting some 33 million people, and washing away hundreds of thousands of animals, houses, bridges, schools, hospitals, and other infrastructures.
The near-apocalyptic floods also killed over 1,700 people, in addition to causing a whopping loss of 30 billion dollars to the already sputtering economy.
The monsoon torrent came after Pakistan was seared by a spring heatwave, with pockets of Sindh sporadically suffering temperatures of 50C (122F).
Extreme weather events are increasing in severity as a result of climate change, scientists say.
Pakistan -- the world's fifth largest population -- is responsible for only 0.8 per cent of global greenhouse emissions but it's one of the most vulnerable to extreme weather caused by global warming.