Pakistanis struggle for survival after floods

Catastrophic flooding that has killed more than 1300 people in Pakistan has also forced millions from their homes, overwhelming government relief efforts.

Thousands are camped out along roads in makeshift tents, others have sought shelter in abandoned buildings, and for those who have managed to reach a camp for the displaced, aid is in short supply.

A 45-year-old labourer named Lawang and 16 members of his family are among the desperate. They have been living under a plastic sheet on the side of a road in rural Sindh for over two weeks.

Lawang, who does not have a last name, said nearly everyone from his village in Mirpurkhas fled when the waters rose above 1.5m and buildings began to collapse. The road was the nearest high ground they could find.

‘‘We have been here in these shelters for 16 days, but no one came to us,’’ he said. His flimsy shelter was just one of about 70 along more than a kilometre of the road.

For many living along roadsides, tents are nothing but a single plastic sheet held up by thin wooden poles. Other shelters are built with cloth hung between branches cut from nearby trees. Farming equipment and livestock rescued from the floods by families fortunate enough to walk to safety dot the dusty fields. But many, like Lawang, were able to bring only what they could carry: a few blankets, clothing and a pot for boiling water.

‘‘Some people on their own bring us cooked food twice a day,’’ Lawang said. ‘‘But no one from the government has visited us.’’

Anger is rising across Pakistan over the slow pace of the government’s relief efforts. Pakistani officials say they have been hampered by the scale of the crisis: Some 33 million people have been affected, more than 500,000 houses destroyed. Hundreds of villages remain underwater.

In Sindh province, many experienced nonstop rain for more than two months, a torrent officials attribute to climate change. The flooding began in June, but those displaced say the government began to respond and requested outside help only last month.

AP Victims of unprecedented flooding from monsoon rains line up to receive relief aid organised by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, in Charsadda, Pakistan.