Getting food and other aid to eight million or more people in urgent need is a logistical challenge. Based on World Food Programme (WFP) costs and times, IRIN takes a look at the main options for transporting 100 tons of food 100km.
Truck: The most common means of transporting aid.
Volume of food: Each truck can carry 10 tons of food
Number needed: 10 trucks to transport 100 tons
Time required to travel 100km: 3 hours
Total cost: US$1200
“This is not an easy job. We have been stopped by desperate people who have tried to remove the food. We understand the situation of flood victims, but it is our job to get consignments to the places they are being sent to,” Muhammad Faizan, a truck driver, told IRIN in Muzaffargarh, Punjab Province.
“I would say reaching people is the most difficult of all, due to the broken roads, washed away bridges and so on,” Chris Lom of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told IRIN in Islamabad.
Mule: Damage caused to roads and bridges by the floods has meant mules and donkeys have been used by the Pakistan army, WFP and other organizations, notably in Swat and Shangla districts, to reach marooned people.
Volume of food: One army mule can carry about 38kg of food
Number needed: About 2,632 mules to transport 100 tons
Time required to travel 100km: 2 days
Total cost: $5,000
“One of my mules died due to exhaustion. Other owners have lost animals which slipped on a track narrowed by a landslide. It is very hard work for us to walk along with the animals and keep them moving on, but we know it is vital to get food to people,” said mule owner Ali Hassan in Swat.
Helicopter: The inaccessibility of flood-hit mountainous areas means for many access is possible only by air. “We estimate about 800,000 people are currently in areas to which access is only possible by helicopter – either in the north because key roads and bridges have been washed away and links may take weeks or even months to re-establish, or further south where floodwaters have left communities marooned,” Marcus Prior, a spokesperson for WFP, told IRIN.
Volume of food: 3.5tons per sortie
Number needed: About 30
Time required to travel 100km: 30 minutes
With eight helicopters 100 tons of food can be delivered in one day.
Total cost: $360,000
“It is wonderful to hear a helicopter whirring overhead because we know it means food. The army helicopters have also rescued people who need to be taken away,” said Azam Khan, a flood victim in Kohistan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province (KP).
“We work on moving the food by the most feasible, cost-effective and time-efficient manner. A helicopter would only be used where there is no other option – otherwise we use trucks, which is the most cost-effective means.” Similarly with mules: “We are only using them in Shangla [in KP] at present as this is the only option we have there,” said Prior.
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[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]