Peshawar [Pakistan], August 26 : Constant rains and raging floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have destroyed large parts of infrastructure and agricultural land, including hundreds of houses, roads, and bridges, while washing away livestock, according to Dawn.
The affected population is now facing an increased risk of waterborne and other diseases, alongside psychological trauma. Government health authorities and non-governmental organisations have set up makeshift clinics and medical camps across KP to tackle outbreaks of several waterborne and skin diseases.
Rains and flood-related accidents have already killed more than 400 people across the province since August 15, reported the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Dawn added.
"Post-floods situation is even more dangerous, as the lurking threat of outbreak can kill more people than floods did," warned Abdul Ghafoor Shoro, secretary general of the Pakistan Medical Association. Speaking to Anadolu and quoted by Dawn, he called for an immediate "prevention plan" involving the provision of basic health necessities, including clean drinking water and hygiene, to reduce the danger.
"Considering the given hygiene conditions, we cannot fully contain the outbreak and possible deaths, but a smart prevention plan can reduce the volume of a secondary disaster to a good extent," Shoro said, Dawn reported.
Mohammad Zahid Latif, head of the health division of Al-Khidmat Foundation, said waterborne and skin diseases are already on the rise in flood-stricken areas. "Thousands of people, mainly children, have arrived with complaints of diarrhoea, gastroenteritis, dengue fever, malaria and skin issues. Thousands more [with similar complaints] are still stranded on the outskirts due to the blockade of roads and washing away of bridges," he told Anadolu, as reported by Dawn.
Reproductive and mental health needs are also rising among the affected population. "Many affected people have been brought to us with severe trauma and stress disorder because of the disaster they have gone through," Latif said, adding that physical injuries may heal in weeks or months, but mental trauma will take much longer, Dawn reported.
Endorsing this, Ataullah Khan, a spokesman for the KP Health Department, said the government had already taken steps to contain the issue. "In addition to communicable diseases, people are also facing trauma and acute stress disorder. To handle the issue, the provincial government has sent trained psychiatrists to the flood-hit areas in collaboration with psychiatrist associations," Khan told Anadolu, Dawn added.
Meanwhile, KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur chaired a meeting on district-wise review of progress on payments of compensation to flood victims. He issued a six-day deadline to officials for payments of all types of compensation.
"The pace of work on payments of compensation to victims should be further accelerated, ensuring payments of all types of compensation to victims by the upcoming Sunday. A feasible mechanism should be devised for payments of compensation to those minor children of deceased individuals who cannot have identity cards and bank accounts made," Gandapur said in a statement on his X account, Dawn reported.
Gandapur also directed that compensation payments should be made to relatives of missing individuals. He said the amount required by PDMA for compensation and rehabilitation works should be released immediately and added that cash payments should be made to migrating families in Bajaur instead of non-food items.
He further instructed that additional teams from the health department be deployed to expedite verification of injured individuals and affected homes and shops.
"Work should be started on collecting data for homes destroyed on waterways, discussions should be initiated with victims for constructing homes at safe locations for owners of such homes, arrangements should be made to pay 100,000 rupees per household for cleaning homes to those whose homes have floodwater and debris entered," Gandapur said.
"The process of compensation payments to victims should be completed within the stipulated time so that we can start the early rehabilitation process. There is no shortage of resources for compensation payments to victims and rehabilitation. Complete transparency should be ensured in the use of funds for compensation payments to victims and rehabilitation works, for this purpose, the monitoring process should be made more effective," he added.
Dawn reported that authorities are working to ensure timely payments and rehabilitation as the province grapples with widespread flood devastation and the looming threat of disease outbreaks.