ISLAMABAD: More than 4.2 million people have been affected by monsoon floods in Pakistan’s Punjab province, with southern districts suffering the most severe impact.
A rapid needs assessment released by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) revealed the scale of the disaster on Friday.
The survey was conducted jointly with the provincial government from September 8 to September 18, covering nearly 2,000 villages across 18 flood-affected districts.
The assessment discovered that approximately 2.8 million people were displaced from their homes due to the flooding.
It also found that about 161,700 houses were damaged, while health and education infrastructure sustained extensive destruction.
According to Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority, around three million people were rescued or evacuated nationwide between June 26 and September 19.
Floods also damaged 12,559 houses and killed 6,509 livestock animals across the country during this period.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif earlier announced a doubling of ex-gratia compensation for families of flood victims.
The compensation amount was raised from one million rupees to two million rupees, equivalent to about US$7,000. – Bernama, Xinhua