The United Nations appealed on Wednesday for $460 million in emergency aid for Pakistan after floods devastated large areas of the country. The appeal was launched by UN humanitarian chief John Holmes at a meeting at UN headquarters and will cover a 90-day period of immediate relief. Holmes said the “emergency response plan” would be revised after 30 days as more information came in. Pakistan issued fresh flood warnings Wednesday, putting parts of Punjab and Sindh on alert and calling on foreign donors to step up efforts to contain the country's worst humanitarian disaster. The meteorological service warned of floods in Hyderabad district, which could spread devastation further south in Sindh province, and issued a “significant” flood forecast for Kalabagh and Chashma in Punjab. Local governments in both provinces, considered the breadbasket of Pakistan, also issued warnings about more flooding in the days ahead, although the chief minister in Sindh acknowledged that the immediate danger had passed. Pakistan's government has admitted being unable to cope with the scale of the crisis and an outpouring of rage from survivors and the political opposition is compounding pressure on President Asif Ali Zardari. Islamic charities have plugged some of the vacuum, leading to warnings within the United States about rising extremism in the country. The Pakistani Taliban, which have been fighting the military in the tribal belt and last year in the cut-off northwestern Swat valley, has called on the government to turn down all foreign aid for the victims. Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Chief Minister of Sindh, told a small group of reporters that up to 3.5 million people could be affected in the province, although loss of life had been negligible. “Up to 40 km of Indus Highway is inundated and has been closed. The initial rough estimates show that losses of Rs35 billion ($411 million), excluding crops, have been suffered by Sindh,” he said. “I think the actual losses will be much higher. We feel that without substantial foreign assistance it will be difficult for Sindh and rest of the country to redevelop and rehabilitate its people. “What we need is substantial foreign aid and not peanuts. The aid being pledged so far is peanuts and not enough to meet the enormous challenge ahead. According to UN figures, more than 14 million people have been affected by the floods, more than 1,200 have died and nearly 300,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed. Holmes told UN envoys the disaster was “one of the most challenging that any country has faced in recent years.” The UN humanitarian division OCHA said key needs that UN and private aid agencies had to address in Pakistan included food, clean drinking water, emergency health services, tents and shelter kits, cooking sets and mosquito nets. The World Food Program said it was trying to get help to up to six million survivors at a cost of $150 million and expected to reach out to two million by the end of the month. But the Pakistani Taliban have condemned the aid effort and offered to cough up $20 million on its own, without any indication it could pay.
