Swelled by torrential monsoon rains, major rivers have flooded Pakistan's mountain valleys and fertile plains, killing up to 1,600 people and leaving two million homeless.
Six million people still need food, shelter and water and medicine, the United Nations says.
But with an area roughly the size of Italy
hit by floods, government and foreign aid has been slow in coming and
the United Nations has warned of a second wave of deaths among the sick
and hungry if help does not arrive.The U.N. has reported the first case of cholera amid fears that disease outbreaks could spread with survivors sleeping in makeshift tarpaulin tents. Some beg or loot.
Bridges have collapsed, highways have been snapped in two by torrential rains and villages have been cut off from the outside world in what was already one of the poorest countries in Asia.
Only a quarter of the $459 million aid needed for initial relief has arrived, according to the United Nations.
"I
am here ... to share my sympathy and solidarity of the United Nations
together with the people and government of Pakistan at this time of
trial," Ban said on arriving in Pakistan."I am here also to urge the world community to speed up their assistance to Pakistan."
Ban met both Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari, who has been a lightning rod for popular anger after traveling to Europe as the catastrophe unfolded and not cutting short his trip.
The U.N. leader plans to visit flood hit areas on Sunday.
Ban's visit comes as millions of Pakistanis are increasingly frustrated by the government that has already been hit by political bickering and Taliban militant violence,
Pakistan's government has been accused of being too slow to respond to the crisis with victims relying mostly on the military -- the most powerful force in Pakistan -- and foreign aid agencies for help.
Floodwaters pose new threats to the populous Sindh province and the southwest province of Baluchistan, a region also hit by a decades long separatist insurgency.
At least 500,000
tonnes of wheat have been destroyed by the floods. At Kot Addu in
southern Punjab, thousands of bags lay ruined as workers were unable to
move them quickly enough from rising floodwater."How many bags of wheat can you shift to a safer place in five or six hours? said Naseem Khan Khattak, owner of a flour mill that was submerged by floods. "We could do absolutely nothing. How were we to combat the deluge?"
Highlighting the lack of logistical support and helicopters for relief efforts, flour, cooking oil and rice were carried by mules along narrow mountain tracks to 150,000 people in Shahpur in the northwest Swat valley.
Despite
the government's perceived failure to tackle the crisis, a military
coup is unlikely. The army's priority is fighting Taliban insurgents,
and seizing power during a disaster would make no sense, analysts say.Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif and Gilani have said they would leave politics aside in the crisis, possibly helping to create more political stability.
The International Monetary Fund has warned of major economic harm and the Finance Ministry said it would miss this year's 4.5 percent gross domestic product growth target.
Any
economic downturn would come just as the government aims to fund
projects to win hearts and minds in the battle against the Taliban.Wheat, cotton and sugar crops have all suffered damage in a country where agriculture is a mainstay of the economy.
Waters roared down from the northwest to Punjab province to Sindh, where more flooding is expected. Sindh is home to Pakistan's biggest city and commercial hub Karachi. Floods have damaged mostly rural areas there, although concerns are rising that other urban centers are at risk.
(Additional reporting by Kamran Haider; Writing by Alistair Scrutton; Editing by Michael Georgy and Sanjeev Miglani)
Reference
http://www.reuters.com/
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