Pakistan Extends Flood Relief Phase To Six Months

(NewsCore) - Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Saturday relief efforts would be extended to six months as floods ravaged more southern towns during the worst disaster to hit the country.

A month after monsoons triggered catastrophic flooding throughout the country, submerging an area the size of England, eight million people remain dependent on handouts for their survival, which they said were too slow coming.

"In the current circumstances and urgent needs, the relief phase which was earlier planned to end on October 30, now will continue for six months," Gilani told the lower house of the federal parliament. "Early recovery phase shall be completed by Dec. 30, while damage and need assessment by World Bank and Asian Development Bank would be completed by Sept. 30."

Authorities in the southern province of Sindh were busy evacuating more people to safety in several flooded towns around 215 miles (350 kilometers) north of Karachi as officials said thousands more tents were urgently needed.

"Most parts of Khairpur Nathan Shah town and Mehar town and several surrounding villages have been flooded," Iqbal Memon, district chief of Dadu, told AFP. "Most of the people have been evacuated from these towns and hundreds of those remaining were being helped by the Pakistan navy and local administration."

Sindh relief commissioner Ghulam Ali Pasha confirmed there was a shortage of tents after a further 200,000 people were displaced from Khairpur Nathan Shah alone.

"The flood has affected some eight million people in Sindh and some 2.8 million people were displaced," Pasha told AFP. "Only 1.2 million people are in camps, while the rest have no shelter as we are facing an acute shortage of tents and some 50,000 tents are immediately needed."

He said the floods had destroyed some 4,600 schools.

The government's official death toll from the floods reached 1,760, but disaster officials warned that number was likely to rise "significantly" when the missing are accounted for.

While the international community has donated $700 million, domestic anger continues to mount against the widely unpopular civilian government, which came under fire for its handling of the crisis.

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