Pakistan Floods: Nearly 30 students trapped in Kumrat valley await rescue

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan], August 27 : Amid the deteriorating flood situation in Pakistan, as many as 30 students trapped in Kumrat Valley in the Upper Dir District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province are waiting to be rescued, local media reported.
The students, including females and males both, requested the government to evacuate them safely.
One of the students trapped in the valley said that all of them belong to different areas of Punjab. She added that the students are unable to speak due to the cold, Geo News reported.
"We are sleeping on a wet floor and there is nothing here to eat or drink," she said, adding that they have contacted authorities concerned, however, no one has approached them.
On the other hand, Additional Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah said that food and tents have been provided to the students who are stranded. He assured that the students will be evacuated safely as soon as the weather gets better, Geo News reported.
Pakistan is facing the worst calamity in past years, which has pushed most of the country into a crisis.
At present, more than half of Pakistan is under water and millions of people have been rendered homeless as a result of flash flooding generated by abnormal monsoon rains which have entered their eighth spell with no signs of subsiding.
The humanitarian situation in Pakistan has deteriorated further over the past two weeks as heavy rains continue to cause flooding, and landslides resulting in displacement and damage across the country.
Sixty-six districts have been officially declared to be 'calamity hit' by the Government of Pakistan - 31 in Balochistan, 23 in Sindh, nine in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and three in Punjab.
Millions of children, women, and men have been affected since mid-June, and over a thousand lives have been lost. People have lost their homes, livestock, harvest-ready crops, and their only sources of livelihood. Infrastructure across the country has suffered massive damage, and roads, bridges, and buildings have been washed away, Dawn reported.
Shehbaz Sharif's government on Thursday officially declared a "national emergency" after rains and flood-related incidents killed over 900 and left at least 30 million without shelter.
Balochistan province has probably suffered the most in the aftermath of devastating monsoon rains this year.
Highways linking Balochistan with other provinces remained non-operational on Friday as relentless rains and floods did not allow authorities to repair the damaged arteries. Another bridge on the Quetta-Sukkur road also suffered damage due to flooding in the Bolan River.
Telephone and internet services were disrupted in several parts of Balochistan due to damage caused by torrential rains. The services were partially restored in 10 districts of the province by Friday night.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority tweeted that Communication services have been affected in Chitral, Upper Dir, Doonbala, Swat, Madin, Lal Qila Samarbagdir, Tank, and DI Khan due to damage to optical fiber cables and power outages due to heavy rains and floods.
The country's climate change minister Sherry Rehman, in a statement on Wednesday, admitted Pakistan is not able to deal with the flood situation on its own.
"Torrential rains unprecedented in Sindh right now, Balochistan, DG Khan also at risk. No question of the provinces or Islamabad being able to cope with this magnitude of climate catastrophe on their own. Lives are at risk, and thousands are homeless. International partners need to mobilise assistance," she tweeted.
670,000 houses were damaged while nearly 800,000 animals died in the floods, the report stated, adding that Tarbela Dam is filled to capacity while Chashma Barrage was about to be filled. Over 30 million people have been heavily affected by floods in Pakistan as the South-Asian country seeks world support.
Meanwhile, Speaking to the media, Prime Minister of the country, Shahbaz Sharif said that the federal government had allocated a grant of Rs 38 billion to support each flood-affected family with a disbursement of Rs 25,000.
The government has also decided to deploy the army in all provinces to help the civilian authorities in rescue operations in calamity-hit areas, reported Dawn.