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World Water Day: Update from Pakistan


March 22, 2011
By Kathleen Sands Adams

The IRC has installed water tanks, hand pumps and latrines in flood damaged communities across Pakistan's Sindh Province. In the village of Aitbar Brohi, a girl pumps drinking water from a well.

Photo: Peter Biro/IRC

After the flood

  • The people of Shah Wasaye returned to their village in late February. More than six months after the floods, the community is still in ruins.
  • A resident of the village clears debris from the spot where his house once stood. Flooding destroyed an estimated 1.7 million homes throughout Pakistan.
  • The IRC's Dr. Abdul Jalil examines patients in the village of Shah Wasaye. Most communities were poor even before the floods struck. Now they are suffering from an upsurge in disease brought on by food shortages, contaminated water and poor hygiene.
  • Parveen Abro, an IRC nurse, treats a girl from Shah Wasaye. The IRC operates two mobile health teams in Sindh Province that provide services to some 50,000 people.
  • Some 170,000 flood victims remain in camps for displaced people, according to the United Nations. The number of homeless people is much higher, including those living in tents beside wrecked homes, like this family near Shah Wasaye.
  • This family built a makeshift structure outside Shah Wasaye. The village's farm land and livestock were destroyed by the flooding.
  • The IRC has launched a far-reaching project that will rebuild vital infrastructure in hard-hit Sindh Province and help over 150,000 people.
  • Food shortages are acute in some areas of Sindh Province. The IRC's new aid project will rehabilitate agricultural land and distribute seeds, fertilizers, poultry and livestock.
  • The IRC supplies drugs and equipment to rural health clinics such as this one in the village of Mianjogoth.
  • The IRC has installed water tanks, hand pumps and latrines across Sindh Province. In the village of Aitbar Brohi, a girl pumps drinking water from a well.
  • A boy enjoys a clean shower in the village of Aitbar Brohi.
  • Cases of diarrhea and scabies have dropped dramatically since the IRC installed a fresh water supply, according to Mohammed Alem, who lives in a tent in Aitbar Brohi.
  • Much of Pakistan's flood zone is in the same desperate shape as it was six months ago. Although the international aid effort has helped millions of people it is still struggling to catch up to the immense human need.
Launch Slideshow

More than six months on, the humanitarian crisis brought about by the worst flooding in Pakistan’s history is far from over.   The IRC is providing clean water and health care, and helping hard hit communities to rebuild vital infrastructure and kick start their local economies.

All IRC Slideshows >
All Pakistan Slideshows >

After the flood

  • The people of Shah Wasaye returned to their village in late February. More than six months after the floods, the community is still in ruins.
  • A resident of the village clears debris from the spot where his house once stood. Flooding destroyed an estimated 1.7 million homes throughout Pakistan.
  • The IRC's Dr. Abdul Jalil examines patients in the village of Shah Wasaye. Most communities were poor even before the floods struck. Now they are suffering from an upsurge in disease brought on by food shortages, contaminated water and poor hygiene.
  • Parveen Abro, an IRC nurse, treats a girl from Shah Wasaye. The IRC operates two mobile health teams in Sindh Province that provide services to some 50,000 people.
  • Some 170,000 flood victims remain in camps for displaced people, according to the United Nations. The number of homeless people is much higher, including those living in tents beside wrecked homes, like this family near Shah Wasaye.
  • This family built a makeshift structure outside Shah Wasaye. The village's farm land and livestock were destroyed by the flooding.
  • The IRC has launched a far-reaching project that will rebuild vital infrastructure in hard-hit Sindh Province and help over 150,000 people.
  • Food shortages are acute in some areas of Sindh Province. The IRC's new aid project will rehabilitate agricultural land and distribute seeds, fertilizers, poultry and livestock.
  • The IRC supplies drugs and equipment to rural health clinics such as this one in the village of Mianjogoth.
  • The IRC has installed water tanks, hand pumps and latrines across Sindh Province. In the village of Aitbar Brohi, a girl pumps drinking water from a well.
  • A boy enjoys a clean shower in the village of Aitbar Brohi.
  • Cases of diarrhea and scabies have dropped dramatically since the IRC installed a fresh water supply, according to Mohammed Alem, who lives in a tent in Aitbar Brohi.
  • Much of Pakistan's flood zone is in the same desperate shape as it was six months ago. Although the international aid effort has helped millions of people it is still struggling to catch up to the immense human need.
Launch Slideshow

More than six months on, the humanitarian crisis brought about by the worst flooding in Pakistan’s history is far from over.   The IRC is providing clean water and health care, and helping hard hit communities to rebuild vital infrastructure and kick start their local economies.

All IRC Slideshows >
All Pakistan Slideshows >

In 2010 my International Rescue Committee colleagues gave over 4.4 million people access to clean drinking water and sanitation.  On this World Water Day (March 22), the IRC's Peter Biro provides an update on our work in Pakistan: 

"A little more than six months ago Pakistan was inundated by the worst floods in living memory. The toll in human suffering was incalculable. Over 20 million people were made homeless or otherwise affected by the deluge. Some 1.7 million homes were destroyed and 5.4 million acres of land damaged. And the humanitarian crisis brought about by the flooding is far from over.

People who live in the country’s vast flood zone still desperately need access to clean water and health care. Across Sindh Province the IRC has installed water tanks, hand pumps and latrines. Outside of the heavily flood-damaged village of Shah Wasaye the IRC has set up a mobile health clinic that is treating people for diseases brought on by contaminated drinking water and the lack of hygiene. Two roving medical teams provide services that have reached some 50,000 people in the province."

You can read more of Peter's story here.

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