69 killed as heavy rains lash parts of Pakistan

At least 69 people were killed, 36 injured and 294,844 others were affected by heavy rains and flash floods in parts of Pakistan over the past two weeks, officials from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said Tuesday.

Reema Zuberi, the spokesperson of the NDMA, told Xinhua that the torrential rains that have been lashing the country since July 15, swept away 1,855 houses damaged, inundated 635 villages and destroyed standing crops on 233,688 acres of land.

The country's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkwa province was the worst-hit area where the gushing waters have killed at least 34 people, injured another seven and destroyed 427 houses.

Chitral district of the province was badly affected where the heavy rains washed away bridges, roads houses and cattle in various villages.

The floods have rendered thousands of people homeless, forcing them to leave under the open skies amid the surging water levels in rivers, drainage and other water resources.

Forty bridges and four roads linking the district to other parts of the province were thoroughly damaged, creating hindrance in the rescue and relief operation.

The flood water destroyed 11 irrigation channels and over 60 water supply schemes, cutting off the drinking water supply to the district.

A total of 15 people were killed, eight others injured and about 178 houses were destroyed when heavy rains wrecked havoc in Pakistan-controled Kashmir, the NDMA said.

At least seven people were killed, eight injured and 118 houses destroyed when the heavy downpour hit the country's southern Balochistan province, the authority said.

In the country's eastern Punjab province, eight people were killed, 11 others injured, 479 houses damaged, 363 villages affected, 278,298 people became homeless and 233,688 acres of standing crops destroyed due to heavy downpour.

Up to 95 villages were inundated and 16,546 people were affected in the country's southern Sindh province.

In northern Gilgit Baltistan area, the heavy rains killed five people, injured two and damaged 653 houses.

Teams from NDMA, provincial governments and Pakistani army are carrying out rescue and relief operation in the affected areas.

The army has provided 249 tents, 724.52 tons of ration, 12 tons of drinking water to the flood affectees and also evacuated 43,109 people from the rain-hit areas.

Meanwhile, 180 people stranded in the flood water were shifted by an army helicopter from Chitral to safe places.

The NDMA has provided 2,300 shelters, 24 tons of ration, one ton of drinking water and 20 rescue boats in the flood-hit areas.

The provincial governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh have provided 565,13,300 and 8,100 tents respectively. The governments of Gilgit Baltistan and Pakistan-controled Kashmir have provided 475 and 1,000 tents respectively.

The governor and chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan visited parts of flood-affected areas on Sunday, announcing 500-U.S.- dollar aid for each family.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has announced a five-million-U.S.- dollar aid package for Chitral and visited flood relief camps in Punjab province on Friday, local media reported.

Monsoon rains hit Pakistan every year in June and the season normally ends in the first week of September. During the period, the country receives heavy rains which cause flooding in various areas.

The most destructive flood rattled the country in 2010 hitting parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh. The flood swept away 20 percent of the land, killed 1,540 people and injured 2,088. According to U.N. report, 557,226 houses had been destroyed, and over 6 million people had been displaced in the flood. Endi