Pak rain claims 200 lives in 2 weeks

Nearly two hundred people have died in Sindh province as monsoon rain plays havoc in different areas of the province, officials said today. Imtiaz Ahmad reports.

Nearly two hundred people have died in Sindh province as monsoon rain plays havoc in different areas of the province, officials said on Monday.

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Rain have lashed the province for the past two weeks and also led to many river embankments being breached due to water pressure, in turn flooding hundreds of acres of farmland.

President Asif Zardari made an international appeal for help last week after different towns and villages were under threat from rains and flooding caused by canal breaches. So far, the response to the appeal has been lackluster with the UN responding with limited food aid.

Residents of different rural areas who made their way to Badin and Thatta, two towns on the periphery of the floods, say that livestock has died in large numbers and most of those who have died were because of water-borne diseases and snakebites.

The government has responded by setting up relief centres and calling in the army, especially in the border areas. But most aid agencies working in the affected areas say that response has been limited and the affected areas lack most basic of help. "It is a disaster and the government is taking too much time to respond to it," said social welfare activist Abdul Sattar Edhi.