Villagers brave snakes and hunger to protect land in flooded Pakistan

The southern Pakistan village of Karim Bakhsh is almost entirely under muddy water after catastrophic monsoon rains -- hardly any stable buildings are left for shelter, the wheat silos are empty and venomous snakes are a constant threat.

But unlike the tens of thousands of people who have fled their flooded homes, villages and towns across the country, several families here have refused to leave.

Without formal property deeds, many residents are worried that if they take off opportunists will seize their land, where their families have lived for generations.

"We had ownership papers from the British colonial government," Intizar Ahmed, a 55-year-old farmer, told AFP Wednesday while standing on an elevated patch of land near his mostly submerged homestead in Sindh province.

"But we lost them many years ago in a flood like this... (besides) we have no place to go."

Others said they worried about the fate of their livestock -- a resource far too valuable for poor villagers to leave behind.

"We have buffaloes, cows and goats... if we leave the cattle behind they would be stolen," said Shah Mohammad, 35.

Mohammad and others were scrambling to find food not just for themselves, but for their animals too.

There was enough for the animals to eat for now, he said, but villagers have been struggling to replenish empty wheat bins.

- Cut off from the world -

Aid delivered by boat by charities is the only lifeline for those who can't or don't want to leave Karim Bakhsh.

The village has been besieged by murky floodwaters extending for more than a kilometre in some spots.

Villagers gathered on the few dry patches of land to wait for a boat operated by the Alkhidmat Foundation -- a Pakistan-based humanitarian organisation -- as it puttered through the waist-deep water in the streets.

It was the first aid delivery in days.

The boat made multiple stops in the village so relief workers could hand out tents, food packages and other supplies.

An aid worker said the charity had decided to make the deliveries after it found out that some families did not want to leave.

At every stop, there was evidence of the destruction wrought by the torrential rains and floods -- the worst in decades.

Most homes and structures were ruined, and villagers were desperate for any material that might help build temporary shelter from both the rain and -- when it came out -- the scorching sun.

"Our homes fell... We cut down the trees and used that wood to hold up whatever was left of our walls," said Gul Badshah, 70.

Maqbool Ahmed, another resident, prepared to face a different local threat especially common during floods: venomous snakes.

He connected a small lamp to a car battery, placing the setup on an earthen mound.

"We light it up in the night to guard against snakes," he told AFP.

"Sometimes, cobras and vipers sneak into our place."

'Heavenly' Pakistan mountain town becomes site of ruin
Bahrain, Pakistan (AFP) Aug 31, 2022 - Bahrain is a town in ruins -- reduced to rubble by the incredible force of flash floods that swelled the river running through it, severing a lifeline bridge.

Hundreds of settlements in Pakistan's north have been cut off by monsoon rains that came to a head last week, causing the worst floods in the country's history.

But in the past few days, the heavily damaged road heading through the Swat Valley has slowly opened up, revealing the extent of the destruction.

In Bahrain, hotels have disappeared, the town's mosque is a bare shell, and waist-high water still gushes through the main bazaar.

"It was a heavenly place but now it is a wreckage," Muhammad Asif, a 22-year-old college student, told AFP on Wednesday.

"In the past week, everything has changed dramatically. The river added to the beauty, but now it is a threat."

The town usually bustles with more than a thousand summer tourists every day, drawn by majestic mountain views from hotels and restaurants perched on the riverbank.

It will likely take years for them to return, and with tourists gone, the fear of economic ruin is also setting in.

"My hotel is still partly under water," said Muhammad Nawaz, whose 40 employees at his various establishments are now jobless.

"I am pulling sand out of my restaurant and searching for furniture in the ruins."

The road north ends at the edge of the Swat River, where the bridge that once connected the two halves of the town is now a mass of debris.

Rickety wooden planks stand in its place, crossed by men carrying sacks of rice, flour and sugar to their villages -- hours away by foot.

Further north, their valleys remain cut off.

- Desperate for help -

What was once a 20-minute journey by motorbike for Karim Farman is now close to a four-hour walk over crumbling roads.

No help has reached his flooded village of Balakot yet.

"We are desperate for any sort of assistance. We are in dire need of medicine, it is very tough to bring patients here," said Muhammad Amir, who is from the same village.

"There has been no electricity in our village for nearly a week, people don't even have a candle for light. Several people are sick with diarrhoea."

Bahrain's destruction unfolded late last Thursday night.

Many locals reported not receiving any warnings, but as the river rapidly rose tourists began to evacuate from hotels.

Like in many riverside villages and towns, locals believed only the homes on the banks were vulnerable.

But just hours later the full scale of the water's rage became clear.

"In a few minutes the water suddenly encircled my shop from every side," said Aftab Khan.

"I couldn't take anything with me because I had to save my life."

The army arrived on Wednesday, local residents said, to oversee the chaos of diggers clearing rubble and to manage the flow of foot traffic across the river.

Helicopters fly overhead, dropping food packages to the stranded valleys.

A district government official who asked not to be named told AFP it could be months before the road and bridge are repaired.

"Before, this place was like a paradise but now even locals want to escape," said restaurant owner Sheer Bahadur.

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Pakistan floods highlight need for climate 'loss and damage' help
Paris (AFP) Aug 31, 2022
Rich carbon polluters should feel "moral pressure" to help fund climate-vulnerable nations wracked by weather extremes such as Pakistan, where monstrous flooding has caused devastation, diplomats and observers told AFP. Torrential monsoon rains have killed more than a thousand, left a third of Pakistan under water and displaced hundreds of thousands, months after the country was scorched by record-shattering heat, intensified by climate change. While it is too early to quantify the contribution ... read more