By Mashal Khan

ISLAMABAD: Massive floods hit most parts of Pakistan pushing millions of people into misery including killing over 1,000.

According to officials, a massive flood that originated in northern Swat and Dir districts on Thursday night hit the tourist spots in the beautiful valley of Swat and Dir and destroyed dozens of hotels, houses, and roads. 

At least 48 people were killed and 34 others wounded in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkwa province, while 13,456 buildings including houses were washed away by the heavy flood on Friday.

Over 300 castles also perished in the flood water, according to the provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA). 

Flood waters entered houses in down districts of Charsadda and Nowshera and still, dozens of villages near the Kabul and Swat rivers are under flood water. 

Due to the heavy flood, thousands of people were displaced and the government shifted them to safe places.

According to Pakistani officials, so far 1,020 people have been killed and 1,580 wounded across the country since mid-June.

 682,719 houses and 802,583 cattalos perished during the heavy flood this year.

In Swat, several bridges were washed away by Friday’s flood and disconnected the tourist spots from other parts of the country. 

Officials estimate damages are in $ billions as hundreds of villages, buildings and roads washed away and it will need a huge amount to rebuild it. 

Pakistan already facing a severe economic crisis and the government is struggling to get support from the IMF as foreign reserves in the central bank declined to around $7 billion.

The country's 220 million population faces a price hike and currently, inflation reached to 44% which pushes millions of people's lives into more trouble as half of the country's population lives under the poverty line. 

• Army troops deployed across country to help affected people

The government has deployed army troops across the country to help the civil administration and rescue, relief efforts.

“6500  troops have been employed so far across the country in different rescue relief operations along with 250  vehicles, 50 boats and 60  dewatering teams,” a senior official told the South Asia Times. 

“Multiple helicopter sorties have been operated from time to time; evacuating a significant number of stranded individuals besides assistance in the distribution of relief items in far-flung areas of lasbela, Uthal, Awaran, Ghizer, Koh-e- Salman (South Punjab), Rajanpur & DG Khan, and KP” he added. 

The army troops so far evacuated over 40000  civilians to safer locations from calamity-hit areas of Lasbela, Jhal Magsi, Ghandawa, Rajanpur, DG Khan Dadu & Ghizer while thousand others in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other parts of the country.

Army also provided 1,476 tons of dry rations and distributed it among the affected people and shifted over 11000 people into 60 relief camps that they established, the officer said. 

“Pakistan is living through a  “serious climate catastrophe” and is at the “frontline of extreme weather events” whose latest manifestation is the “monster monsoon of the decade” causing extensive devastation across Pakistan,” said Climate Minister Sherry Rehman.

“We definitely need to plan for climate resilience but right now in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. No one thought rainfall averages would go thru the roof THIS high or so unrelentingly, inundating the south, and now rivers rising dangerously in north of Pakistan,” she told the TRT World.