Rescue teams find 11 more bodies as floodwater recedes

* UN announces $200,000 food aid package

KARACHI: Rescue teams found 11 bodies in flood-devastated Sindh on Monday, raising the nation’s death toll to 249 since monsoon rains began soaking Pakistan in July, officials said.

As the waters recede, officials have been able to better assess the property damage in Sindh, the hardest-hit province. “350,000 acres (141,643 hectares) of crops were destroyed in the province,” Relief Commissioner Ali Nawaz Mallah said.

He said 178 people had died in Sindh since the floods began. According to an official survey, the floods destroyed 147,561 huts, making about 860,000 people homeless in Sindh. Although many flood-affected people returned to their homes, about 52,000 were still in relief camps, Mr Mallah said.The Chenab River flooded four villages and killed one person in Punjab on Sunday, officials said.

UN aid: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on Monday announced food aid worth $200,000 (Rs 12 million) to support 250,000 flood-victims in Sindh. Last week the WFP sent a ‘vulnerability analysis mapping team’ to affected areas to assess the damage. WFP Country Representative German Valdivia announced the aid package after meeting with Sindh Chief Minister Sardar Ahmed Ali Maher.

The WFP’s aid consists of 400 tons of wheat and flour and 100 tons of vegetable oil.

The WFP was running a drought relief programme that fed more than 300,000 drought-affected people in Balochistan and Sindh for Rs 83 million, said a statement.

Baitul Maal: The Pakistan Baitul Maal (PBM) on Monday allocated Rs 91.96 million for victims of flood and rain in Sindh and Balochistan. The PBM allocated Rs 2 million for rain-affected in the Badin, Sanghar and Hyderabad districts and Rs 1 million for those in the Jaffarabad and Naseerabad districts.

Flood commission: The Federal Flood Commission will meet on Tuesday to review various agencies and the provinces’ preparations for floods. —AP/APP