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In Pakistan, more than 33 million people have been affected by the floods. The rain has stopped and in some places the water is starting to recede. Relief efforts continue as humanitarian aid is being delivered with some difficulty. We report from Nowshera, in Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where some people have been able to return to their damaged homes.
With our special correspondent in Nowshera, Sonia Ghezali.
Residents of Hassanabad spend hours scraping the muddy floors of their houses. “I’ve been cleaning since yesterday, but look: everything is still dirty,” Obaidullah laments. He was able to return to his house two days ago; inside, everything is covered in mud, the beds are broken, the furniture overturned.
In the house next door, Walayat Shah is covered in mud up to his chest. He points to the watermark on the six-foot-high walls: “The floods have destroyed everything. The water got here. This whole wall has cracked, look,” he says.
Insufficient government aid
He takes us to one of the rooms. “You see the ground here has collapsed. It will take us at least six months to rebuild our house. The government has only promised Rs 25,000 [100 euros], which is not enough. It’s like giving a hungry grain of rice,” she notes.
It is a disaster that is likely to repeat itself, and the people of Nowshera district are well aware of it. But they have no choice but to stay there.
On the streets of Hassanabad, muddy water remains stagnant. A man on a motorcycle leaves his house with a sewing machine and broken appliances. Others on foot, knee-deep in water, try to keep their balance on the clay, holding bales of what they can salvage above their heads.
Half a million homeless
Living conditions are difficult for the survivors. Some live in camps for the displaced along the roads, in schools, etc. Some have tents, but not all because there are not enough. At a camp in a school complex, about 10 families are crowded into a classroom.
Local NGOs are distributing food, clothes and shoes, but this is causing chaos. People come to blows to get a bottle of water, a pair of plastic sandals, a packet of cookies.
“I’m so hungry, I haven’t eaten anything since this morning. I thought I could at least get a packet of biscuits here, but how can I get any? There are only men and they push us apart. I have six daughters and a little son. We are forced to to live in these humiliating conditions,” laments Mukhtar Bibi.
Great chaos ensues when these distributions are not monitored by law enforcement. The misery and despair are such that everyone is fighting for their survival.
