Number of the Day: 1,000,000,000

Posted on August 2, 2010
Filed Under >Adil Najam, Disasters, Environment
22 Comments
Total Views: 45989

Adil Najam

Karachi burns. Pakistan drowns. Pakistanis are desperate to clutch at some twig, some branch of hope. There seem to be none. Even the cricket team collapsed, much like the mud houses outside Swat and Nowshehra.

The brutal murder of MQM MPA Raza Haider has triggered a cycle of violence and arson in Karachi that has already consumed 32 more lives in its wake. And all of this as the rain waters rise as quickly as the death toll due to them: already over 1650 Pakistanis dead in their wake.

Here is the story thus far, as told by the numbers (all of these numbers are likely to keep rising, much like the flood waters):

Cost to Agriculture:
US$1,000,000,000
(US$ 1 Billion in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa only)

Pakistanis Affected:
2,500,000
(including incidents of disease and displacement and with rising threats of epidemics)

Households needing help:
100,000
(Mostly in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa)

People still waiting to be evacuated:
27,000
(Including 1500 tourists)

International Relief Pledged so far:
US$30,000,000+
(Including US$10 million from the United States, another US$10 million from the United Nations and US$8 million from United Kingdom)

Death Toll:
1650+
(Estimate of 1500+ in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa only)

We continue to watch these rising numbers with fear of the worse that is bound to come. We have already written about the mounting deaths (hear and here), about how this is a human-induced calamity and not a ‘natural disaster’, about the need for all of us to help in any which way we can and that ATP has sent all of its revenue to relief agencies working with the poor hit by these flood (via Edhi Foundation). We continue to urge our readers to do the same.

More details on this calamity here, here and here; and a pictorial post of the misery it has brought, here.

22 responses to “Number of the Day: 1,000,000,000”

  1. Kashif says:

    @Usman,
    I highly doubt its my surfing habits that are causing the extremely brutal punishment of my having to view Liz Cheney’s mug here (man, the nightmares!).

    Anyhow, its not a big deal, there are so many other horrible things going on these days that this is least of the problems. I’d rather that Aadil and the team devote their time doing what they are doing i.e., collect donation for the flood relief fund.

    K

  2. USMAN says:

    @Kashif
    The way Google Ads works is that each user sees different ads. It is not as if everyone who visits ATP sees the same Ads. I have never seen a Liz Cheeney Ad. What happens is that each time you visit a page (any page), Google looks at the other pages you have been visiting and based on your traffic and viewing habits serves you Ads related to the types of sites you commonly visit. That is the whole magic of google and how it makes money.

    So, if you are seeing Liz Cheeney Ads it is probably because you have been visiting sites that are right wing (maybe just to see what they are saying) and based on that Google has determined that is the type of Ads that will appeal to you. Similarly, people who will see too many ‘singles’ ads are probably people who have been lurking and searching for that type of stuff elsewhere. Again, Google does this based on our surfing habits and also some matching to the content of the site, but its the first that is the critical factor.

  3. Kashif says:

    Aadil,

    Please check what kind of ads are appearing on the site. On the homepage, in the right-hand column, there is a long ad for Liz Cheney’s organization. I am pretty sure this is not the target audience for her type of people.

    Please have someone review your google ads account as I know this is not your fault, just some code needs to be fixed.

    Keep up the great work.

    K

  4. Kaisar says:

    Pakistan is a failed experiment; as a state it has failed to fulfill its promise. I think it should disintegrate peacefully without further bloodshed.

  5. Due to heavey monsoon rains in Pakistan, about half of the Pakistan is under flood. Millions of people need help. They have no food and shelter. Please create awareness and try to help these needy people. You can give your suggestions to us at info@forumpakistan.com , your little help can save a life.

    A message from http://www.forumpakistan.com , we request all the charity organization in the

    world to come in Pakistan and help in this hour of need.

    Thanks.

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