Manama: Qatar Charity (QC) has distributed aid items to thousands of people living in flood-struck Sindh Province of Pakistan.
Around 65,000 families in the worst-hit areas of Badin, Tand and Muhammed Khan benefitted from the distribution, which included food, tents, mosquito nets, water tanks and mobile toilets, Qatari media reported on Sunday.
QC has allocated an initial QR370,000 to help flood victims in Sindh Province, to be used to help a further 1,000 affected families.
Each family will receive a 62kg food package, as well as non-food items that include kitchen utensils, water containers and plastic covers, Qatar Tribune said.
The floods, resulting from heavy rainfall in August and September, have killed over 400 people, injured over 700 and left thousands homeless. Around 6.7 million acres of land were affected with unprecedented damage to crops, including cotton, bananas and sugar cane.
The displaced, including many women and children, are taking shelter in temporary camps where there is a severe shortage of clean water
According to the National Disaster Observatory, 60 percent of the population of Sindh Province, approximately 36 million people, are in urgent need of clean water while 85 percent of them need health care.
Desalination will also be carried out in order to provide people with clean water. The UN has called for the donation of $375 million in order to provide food, water, sanitation and shelter to those affected.
In August 2010, Pakistan was hit by the worst floods in the history of the country, causing an estimated ten billion dollars worth of damage, and tens of thousands of people are still living in camps over a year later.
QC was of the first organizations to provide aid to the region in 2010, allocating over QR50 million for over 1,200,000 people.
