15 per cent Pakistani population affected by floods

ISLAMABAD, August 28: The death toll from monsoon flooding in Pakistan since June has reached 1,033, according to figures released Sunday by the country’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). It said 119 people had died in the previous 24 hours as heavy rains continued to lash parts of the country. The annual monsoon is essential for irrigating crops and replenishing lakes and dams across the subcontinent, but each year it also brings a wave of destruction. Officials say this year’s monsoon flooding has affected more than 33 million people — one in seven Pakistanis, about 15 percent of the population — destroying or badly damaging nearly a million homes. The NDMA said more than two million acres of cultivated crops have been wiped out, 3,451 kilometres of roads destroyed, and 149 bridges washed away. – NNI