Islamabad, September 7: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday called for a "sustainable system" to cope with the challenges of climate change, which is seen as the primary reason that triggered unprecedented rains and floods that have killed nearly 1,350 people in the country.

"The country is grappling with an unprecedented situation, witnessing floods that have resulted in the loss of lives, infrastructure and crops," Sharif said during his visit to Dera Ismail Khan in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province to review the ongoing restoration and rehabilitation work in flood-affected areas.

He said it was time to rise above politics and demonstrate the spirit of service and welfare because trillions of rupees were required for relief and rehabilitation activities. "It is time that there should be a sustainable system to cope with the challenges of climate change,” the prime minister said. Pakistan Floods Continue To Affect Over 33 Million People, Including Afghan Refugees, Says UN.

Announcing an earlier decision to increase the amount set aside for flood relief under the Benazir Income Support Programme, Sharif said under this package, every flood-hit household would be given Rs 25,000. "Besides, Rs 1 million will be given in compensation to the relatives of the deceased."

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Authority in its daily report on Wednesday reported 18 flood-related casualties in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll since June 14 to 1,343.

The National Flood Response Coordination Centre (NFRCC) confirmed the tally in a separate statement, saying that 17 people were injured due to flash floods over the past 24 hours, taking the total number of injured reported so far to 12,720. The NFRCC, which was created last week to coordinate efforts to tackle floods, also said that digital mapping of affected areas would be carried out to prioritise the rehabilitation of communication infrastructure and population.

Pakistani authorities have been struggling to respond to the devastating floods given their unprecedented magnitude. The government has said that the floods have affected more than 33 million people, inundated a third of the country and caused losses of more than USD 10 billion. Elsewhere, water level in Manchar Lake in Sindh province was receding after cuts made in the dykes over the week to release the excessive water. The lake is the biggest freshwater reservoir in the country.

Four breaches of the lake's banks - to protect areas downstream - have displaced over 100,000 people. Separately, the European Union said it was coordinating incoming aid offers to help Pakistan. "The European Civil Protection Mechanism is deploying one liaison officer to help coordinate the arrival of further aid,” it said in a statement.

It is feared that the health crisis may worsen and the World Health Organisation issued another warning of humanitarian crisis in the wake of floods, with its spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic expressing alarm over a rise in the cases of various diseases. Pakistan, Ravaged by Floods, Bids to Avert Lake Overflow.

"The situation is expected to worsen,” he warned, as it was still difficult to get to areas hit hard by the floods. According to the WHO, over 1,460 health centres have been damaged due to floods across the country, of which 432 have been fully wrecked, mostly in Sindh.

The Pakistan cabinet has enhanced the cumulative compensation amount for flood-affected families under the Benazir Income Support Program from Rs 28 billion to Rs70 billion, while the UN has issued a flash appeal for $160 million to tackle the flood disaster.

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