*“As it stands in this first week of September and looking at different sources including those of the UN, it is confirmed that the flood has affected more than 20 million people, leaving more than 2000 people dead and 200,000 houses damaged or destroyed across four provinces and the flood is still not yet over, water is standing over crops, in homes, in factories and so on,”* says Irshad Ahmad Mughal, chairman of the Lahore-based Iraj Education & Development Foundation (IEDF).

*“Buildings, infrastructure, livestock, health facilities, roads, bridges and communication facilities have been severely damaged,”* he continues. *“Million of people lack shelter, water and medical treatment as flood waters have destroyed their crops, irrigation infrastructure, livestock, orchards, homes, and their assets, however meager they might have been.”*

Due to the reach of the water, in most of the damaged areas rapid assessment is not yet finalized. However, from Susat (at the border near China) to the Arabian Sea, flood waters have completely damaged everything in the way of their runoff . It is said around one fifth of Pakistan is badly damaged by the floods.

While there are reports of wealthy landowners manipulating the release of water away from their holdings into the productive land of the less wealthy and landless land workers, in the main, this disaster is a natural though excessive occurrence. Though, the ill-thought out tampering with river courses has also contributed because, whereas water could have seeped away into more deserted areas, because of river management, the natural sinks that would handle massive overflows were not allowed to play their natural engineering role. Sadly, in some cases the main political parties aided their own supporters rather than offering the government channeled funds to everyone.

*“The IEDF has plans to do relief work for the rehabilitation and settlement of flood affected communities,” Irshad Ahmad Mughal continued, “and has decided to focus on one Union Council – with nine small and large villages of 715 households – of Muzaffargarh for rehabilitation. After the initial rapid assessment, as water is still there and it needs a couple of weeks to dry out, we have already collected food items from our community and distributed these in Kohat – the flood started from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa region.”*

In particular cases, anyone wanting to help can decide in which village of the union council to assist and which item they want to support and how many people they want to support. There are estimates on the unit costs, for better understanding of how the money is spent and this can be given in a break down the population of the 9 villages.

The Humanist Association of Hong Kong echoes AsiaPeace’s words: *“This is perhaps the worst human disaster of this century. Its innocent victims need immediate help. Regardless of your feelings about Pakistan’s government, its other institutions, or any of its political parties, please donate generously for their rescue, relief and rehabilitation,”* Pritam Rohila, Executive Director, Association for Communal Harmony in Asia (ACHA).

For further information and the account details of the Iraj Education & Development Foundation (IEDF), get in touch with: Irshad Ahmad Mughal at: Email: iedf@brain.net.pk
Account of Beneficiary Bank: United Bank Limited, Branch: Saman Abad, Lahore, Pakistan, Address: Saman Abad Chowk, Multan Road, Lahore, City/Country: Lahore, Pakistan; SWIFT/FISC #: UNILPKKA
Beneficiary Information – Account Number: 010-2926-8; Account Name: Iraj Education & Development Foundation (IEDF); Address: Saman Abad Chowk, Multan Road, Lahore, Country: Pakistan, Currency: PKR
Contact Person: Irshad Ahmad Mughal, Chairman IEDF, 662 A, Gulshan-e-Ravi, Lahore. Pakistan. Tel: 92-42-37411210, Mob: 92-300-4417963 – Email: iedf@brain.net.pk

Other reputable and established organizations are the following. Please make sure to indicate that your donation is meant for 2010 Flood Victims in Pakistan.

In Pakistan:
Edhi Foundation (http://edhi.org/ ), Askari Bank, Jodia bazar branch, Karachi (PKR Account No: 011650011-4, USD Account No: 230213000836)

Flood Relief Desk, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) (http://www.piler.org.pk/), Gulshan-e-Maymar, Karachi-75340, Ph: +(92-21) 36351145-7
Fax: +(92-21) 36350345, Cell: +(92)300-3929788

In USA:
Mercy Corps (http://www.mercycorps.org/), Dept W, PO Box 2669, Portland OR 97208-2669

Red Cross via their website http://www.redcross.org/