Balochistan faces the spectre of disease as floods ravage Pakistan

Pakistan’s worst-ever floods are now bringing a variety of diseases like diarrhoea, cholera, dengue and malaria to the people. Lack of drinking water is also adding to the burden of disease across the country.

Nearly half of the country is inundated as the rivers overflow their banks. The floods have battered the country exactly when the Pakistani economy stands on the verge of a default and the foreign reserves are barely enough to support a month’s imports.

The death toll due to floods has touched 1,300. International aid is flowing in from China, UK, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey with international aid agencies on ground to help the beleaguered Shehbaz Sharif government tide over the crisis.

Balochistan and Sindh—Pakistan’s most important provinces in terms of generation of resources and revenue–are the worst affected.

The Balochistan government even postponed its anti-polio campaign for the second time due to the floods. It was first postponed on August 29 and then again on September 5. A new date has not been announced yet.

Doctors Without Borders said in a statement that in Balochistan, 31 out of the 33 districts have been severely affected. “MSF teams, including staff whose own homes were flooded, have responded quickly to provide primary health care to people displaced by the disaster. We have provided aid to people gathered along the roads, in schools, and other makeshift shelters”, said MSF.

Since the rains started in June, at least 295 people have been killed and 1.3 million people have been displaced in Balochistan. The Balochistan government on Wednesday declared 32 out of the total 34 districts “calamity-hit”.

The Baloch people, who have been raging a seven-decade old nationalist struggle against Pakistan have condemned the country for neglect over the years. In a WhatsApp interview one of the Baloch activists told India Narrative that, “27 districts were totally washed away by the floods. People are left with no options other than to spend their lives under the open skies with insufficient food and clothes”.

He added that Balochistan has lost over 600 schools to the floods.

Talking about the army providing flood relief in Balochistan, he said that the Pakistan army is continuing with its operations against Baloch civilians, particularly after the Pakistani army helicopter crash in Lasbela area of Balochistan last month.

The activist added: “On the 25th of August 2022, the so-called Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) raided a house in Mastung Padang abad Balochistan with heavy weapons killing two brothers and kidnapping eight of the same family. Among the abductees, one is ex-principal of Degree College Mastung professor Saleh Muhammad Shad, Advocate Ata Ullah Baloch a member of Mastung Bar Association”.

Criticising the Pakistani response to the floods, he said that all federal governments in Islamabad have considered “Balochistan a golden egg-laying hen for Pakistan and its army”. He alleged that like in earlier times, “the government of Pakistan is trying to grab and embezzle the international donations which are donated to the flood victims in Balochistan. In lieu of helping the flood victims, and providing them with food and shelter, the Governments of Pakistan and Balochistan are waiting for donations to bail out their nearly default economy”.

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