11,000 rain-hit families provided food ration so far: WFP

      ISLAMABAD, Oct 2 (APP): The United Nations World Food
Programme (WFP) has so far provided one month food ration to
around 11,000 families, badly affected due to recent monsoon
floods in Sindh and Balochistan provinces.
       As per initial plan, one-month food ration is being
distributed to some 10,000 families in Jacobabad district of
Sindh and the same number is also being provided to affected
families in Balochistan. So far 6,000 families have already been
facilitated in Sindh while around 5,000 have been accommodated in
two districts of Balochistan, Naseerabad and Jaffarabad, Coordinator
of WFP, Amjad Jamal said.
       Talking to APP here on Tuesday, he said the process of
distribution is expedited and hopefully the process is completed
within next two to three days.
       Amjad said some areas in Sindh are under 2.5 metres (8 feet)
of water, drawing upon limited available stocks of food. WFP plans
to reach a further 10,000 families in coming days.
      He said to reach further families, the WFP has provided 29
boats to Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) as some
areas have limited road access due to flood waters. These boats are
being given to concerned DCOs, he added.
      Replying to a question, he said any assistance beyond this
first phase will require additional funding from donors and WFP is
seeking urgent donations of around US $ 15 million.
     "We could scale up our response to reach up to 250,000 families
- that's 1.7 million people, but that would mean using food stocks
earmarked for relief to the displaced population in the northwest of
the country and these would have to be replenished by December -
that means funding is needed now," he said.
      He said the WFP, managing all assistance within its own
available resources, is providing food basket consists of dietary
staples of fortified wheat flour, pulses, vegetable oil and iodized
salt, as well as High Energy Biscuits and specialized ready-to-use
supplementary food for small children.
       National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has estimated
that up to 4.5 million people have been affected by severe flooding
in Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab, following heavy rains earlier this
month. However, not all of these may require food assistance.
       Amjad said multi-sector Initial Rapid Assessment has been
carried out in the affected areas and the results, expected shortly,
will give a clearer indication of the needs of those affected.
       The disaster has already caused the deaths of up to 400
people, destroyed houses and hundreds of thousands of acres of
crops. Many of the districts affected, particularly in Sindh and
Balochistan, were already struggling to recover from the floods of
2010 and 2011, with communities particularly vulnerable to the
effects of this latest shock.
       Answering another question, he said the WFP has not received
any request to ensure assistance for Punjab province. It had
received requests from Sindh and Balochistan where assistance was
being provided.