Famine looms as flood rages on to Punjab breadbasket

FLOODWATERS surged into Pakistan's heartland and swallowed dozens of villages yesterday, adding to a week of destruction that has already ravaged settlements in the country's mountainous north-west and killed about 1,500 people.

The rush of water in Punjab threatened to destroy vast stretches of crops that make the province Pakistan's breadbasket. The UN warned that about 1.8 million people will need to be fed in the coming weeks.

Adding to the misery, fresh rains in the north-west threatened to overwhelm a major dam and unleash a new deluge, while rescue workers struggled to deliver aid to some 3.2 million people affected by the floods despite washed-out bridges and roads and downed communication lines.

The government has struggled to cope with the scale of the disaster at a time when it is grappling with a faltering economy and a war against the Taleban.

Foreign countries and aid organisations have stepped in to support the government. The United States announced yesterday it was sending six military helicopters from Afghanistan to help with the relief effort.

But many flood victims have complained aid was not reaching them fast enough or at all. That anger could grow as floodwaters surge through Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province.

"We just ran away with our children, leaving behind everything," said Fateh Mohammad, who was caught by surprise when water breached a protection bank in the Kot Addu area.

"All our possessions are drowned in the water. We have nothing," said Mr Mohammad, who was evacuated along with some 4,500 others by the army on boats and helicopters.

Water levels were so high in large tracts of Kot Addu and the nearby area of Layyah in the south of the province, that only treetops and uppermost floors of some buildings were visible. People sought refuge on rooftops and tried to bring their livestock up as far as possible.

Ghulam Mustafa, who lives in a small town near Kot Addu, said he was also surprised by the flooding and had to leave behind three of his children who live at a religious school when he escaped with the rest of his family.

"It was a massive flood when we woke up early in the morning," said Mr Mustafa. "The army says they have rescued everybody in my village, but I do not know where my children are."

Punjab is home to many of Pakistan's largest farms, and the loss of so many crops was one reason the UN's World Food Programme estimated 1.8 million Pakistanis would need food assistance for at least the next month.

Aside from farmers, many victims have small businesses that have been destroyed and won't have the means to buy food for their families, WFP spokeswoman Emilia Casella said in Geneva.

The agency has delivered food to 40,000 people and is aiming to reach 250,000 by the end of the week, but "access is really remaining a major challenge," she added.

In the north-west, new downpours threatened to exacerbate flooding that was already the worst in generations. Of the 3.2 million people affected by flooding, 2.5 million live in the northwest, Unicef spokesman Marco Jimenez said.

Rising water levels at the Warsak dam, the country's third biggest, prompted disaster officials to ask residents in the northern outskirts of Peshawar city to leave their homes.

"If needed, forced evacuation will be started," said Adnan Khan, a spokesman for the Disaster Management Authority of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Rain is forecast for the next few days in the province and also in Punjab, said Qamar-us-Zaman Chaudhry, head of Pakistan's meteorological department.

Many in the north-west of the country were caught by surprise when extremely heavy monsoon rains first triggered floods a week ago.

Bibi Shehnaz lost her young son as she tried to escape rising water in Charsada.

She said: "While we were sleeping we heard loud voices of villagers warning to run because floods were coming.

"While I was trying to flee, my child slipped from my hands and was swept away by the gushing water."

About 1,500 people have died so far in the flooding, said Christian Cardon, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

More than 100,000 people are at risk of disease and clean water is urgently needed in flooded areas.