Flood victims hang on to what's left of their lives

Pingrio, Pakistan: Soldiers in inflatable rescue boats peered across kilometres of flooded farmland and spotted a man wading through waist-deep water desperate to move his goat to high ground.

For the past two weeks, Kaywall has spent 12 hours a day moving his family's livestock from his inundated village to the small town of Pingrio in Sindh province in the south.

The goats are the only thing he has managed to save from raging waters which swept away his house and belongings.

"My house was completely destroyed," said the construction worker, whose family is stranded. "The government has not done anything for us. They are not around."

The scene, being played out in many parts of Sindh, was a troubling reminder of floods which ravaged much of Pakistan in late July and August last year.

Civilian leaders were slow to respond, leaving the far more decisive military to take charge of rescue and relief efforts, along with international aid agencies.

This year, floods have destroyed or damaged 1.2 million houses and flooded 1.8 million hectares since late last month, officials and Western aid groups say.

More than 300,000 people were made homeless. Frustrations with the government are running high. Yesterday, 80 men blocked the main road to Hyderabad, the biggest city near the flooded areas. They are demanding help from the authorities.

Threat of diseases

Victims of the flood are at growing risk of potentially fatal diseases, aid groups warned. The director-general of the Sindh Health Department, Hafeez Memon, said there were 2,000 confirmed cases of malaria and the number was likely to rise.

The government, heavily reliant on foreign aid and an $11 billion (Dh40.39 billion) International Monetary Fund loan to keep the economy afloat, is already stretched dealing with other critical issues like a Taliban insurgency and power cuts.

Entire villages are submerged. Some people who thought they had found shelter were suddenly uprooted by raging waters again.

"We are rice farmers and our crops are destroyed. We had animals but they died. We have nothing left, no income," said a 25-year-old woman named Amna.

Some people were able to reach the one road that leads to Pingrio, which is flooded in some sections and is surrounded by water on several sides.