Nepal flood victims need help

From: http://www.iol.co.za/general/news/newsprint.php?art_id=nw20070808185640579C214427

The Red Cross appealed on Wednesday for nearly $2-million (about R14-million) to help more than 20 000 families in Nepal affected by severe flooding after torrential monsoon rains pounded South Asia.

The appeal for $1,9-million dollars followed similar calls for emergency funding for flood victims in Bangladesh and Pakistan by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

"The hardest hit communities need to receive food, clean water, and access to sanitation facilities," the secretary general of the Nepal Red Cross Society, Dev Ratna Dhakhwa, said.

The Nepal Red Cross said that more than 21 500 families, or around 127 000 people, have been displaced by the floods and landslides. It also estimated that a total of more than 330 000 Nepalese have been affected so far.

In the worst-hit districts, vast areas of crops have been decimated, and several roads and bridges have been washed away, while 26 500 houses have been damaged or destroyed.

While the Nepalese arm of the Red Cross has been leading the charge to help distribute relief, the government, other aid organisations and UN agencies have stepped in to help.

Around 30 000 families in the 33 affected districts have received rice, noodles, salt and sugar, as well as first aid care. Volunteers have also given plastic sheets, cooking utensils and blankets to more than 3 000 families.

Two separate appeals were launched in July to help Bangladesh and Pakistan.

A call for $703 400 was issued to help support flood-affected people in Bangladesh, but conditions in the south Asian country remain dire as millions of people are in urgent need of food, safe drinking water, clothing and shelter.

The Red Cross has made plans to scale up its operations.

"Though flood levels are receding in some areas of India and Nepal, Bangladesh's rivers continue to overflow as water pours down from swollen rivers to the north," said Nina Nobel, the international federation's regional representative for South Asia.

Relief and recovery efforts are also continuing in south-west Pakistan, where similar torrential rains and suffocating temperatures created a miserable situation for about 2,5 million people in June, according to the agency.

"Conditions are worsening again in Pakistan," she added.

"The situation remains highly unstable throughout the region, and with more monsoon rains to come, things could still worsen," said Nobel.
Regards:
Ekendra Lamsal
mail@EkendraLamsal.com