International humanitarian organization Oxfam has put mobile water tanks, first aid, boats, and local volunteers on high alert as Pakistan’s damaging floods surge south. Local organizations supported by Oxfam in the region are mobilized to respond if rivers in the Sindh province bursting their banks as feared.
In Jamshoro, west of Hyderabad on the bank of Indus River and the gateway to the Indus Valley, a group of 60 fishermen are prepared with 120 boats, trained in first aid and rescue with an established early warning system, and ready to evacuate people from four districts. Oxfam has bladder tanks ready in threatened areas so families have access to clean drinking water without delay.
Close to 1,600 people are reported to have been killed in the disaster and 4 million affected. Local authorities estimate that an additional 700,000 could be affected by the looming floods in Sindh.
“People are incredibly scared and fearful for their homes, fields, animals, and their lives, but they are coming together and preparing as much as they possibly can for the devastation that is coming their way,” said Neva Khan, Oxfam’s Pakistan country director. “Oxfam is supporting local groups to gear up and get ready with first aid, clean water, and evacuation teams.”
More than a thousand people who left their homes and have sought shelter in camps in Dadu, north of Karachi, where Oxfam will be distributing hygiene kits – made up of buckets, water purification tablets, and soap –tomorrow. In the areas already badly affected in Khyber Paktankhwa (formerly NWFP) and Punjab Province, Oxfam has provided 4,200 people with hygiene kits and kitchen sets today, as well as continuing to truck in clean drinking water to 39,200 people per day.
So far, the agency has reached more than 100,000 people with clean water and helped local groups evacuate 80,000 stranded people. Efforts are increasing and Oxfam is accepting donations to help fund life-saving work.
