SWAT/MANSEHRA/ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday visited flood tide-hit areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and blazoned Rs10 billion in finances to rehabilitate the disaster-hit areas, indeed as a report by the World Health Organisation(WHO) painted a grim picture of the health and philanthropic heads stewing across the country.
During his visit to Kalam and other corridor of Swat, the premier met the flood tide survivors and addressed a gathering in Kalam and Kanju wherein he promised each-out help by the civil government in prostrating the extremity.
About the Rs10bn package, PM Sharif said the civil government, the National Disaster Management Authority(NDMA), and the parochial administration would insure translucency and immediate disbursement of plutocrat in the affected areas.
According to the PM, the civil government had allocated an quantum of Rs28 billion which was being expended among the affected through the NDMA and the Benazir Income Support Programme. He added every affected family was being given a cash quantum of R25,000 whereas each family was entitled to Rs1 million compensation if they had lost a loved one in the cataracts.
“The cash support blazoned by the civil government is no cover for the loss of lives but it’s the responsibility of the government to give maximum comfort in this hour of grief,” the premier added. At least 5,000 km of roads were damaged in the country due to flooding as per the rearmost reports, according to PM Sharif.
During his address in the Pattan area of Lower Kohistan, the high minister said thanked the United Nations and other nations for extending support to Pakistan in this hour of need. “The friendly countries stood with us in this critical time(and) pledged fiscal backing for reconstruction and recuperation of structure and population affected by the disaster,” he added.
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‘Restore power force’
In a meeting following his visit to KP, PM Sharif directed authorities concerned to restore the power force and form damaged roads in the flood tide- hit areas within two days with the help of the Frontier Works Organisation.
“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the authorities concerned to rehabilitate the flood tide-hit roads and dispatches structure by Friday and asked the Power Division to submit a report on work for power force restoration since August 25,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.
He also instructed for the reanimation of road connectivity between Kalam and Swat by coming week and the repairing of Balochistan’s power transmission network within the coming 48 hours.
The high minister instructed Power Minister Khurram Dastgir to visit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to cover the restoration of power transmission lines and submit a report by 10 am moment(Thursday).
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116 sections affected by cataracts
The WHO in its report said that at least 888 health installations were damaged in rain- convinced cataracts that have affected 116 out of 154 sections across the country. It further said that over 1,000 people were killed while as numerous as 15,000 were injured in cataracts. Over 33 million people have been affected out of which 6.4 million people, including 421,000 people displaced by cataracts, were in dire need of philanthropic aid, the WHO added.
“As of August 28, 888 health installations have been damaged in Pakistan of which 180 of them are fully damaged,” it stated. The health body stated that Pakistan was formerly battling multiple outbreaks, including Covid, and added that the “current situation will largely likely increase the spread of complaint especially if when response capacities are hindered”.
“Ongoing complaint outbreaks in Pakistan, including acute watery diarrhoea, dengue fever, malaria, polio, and Covid-19 are being further exacerbated, particularly in camps and(areas) where water and sanitation installations have been damaged,” the report stated.
“WHO has also diverted mobile medical camps, including those responding to Covid- 19 brigades, to affected sections, delivered 1.7 million aqua tabs to insure access to clean water, and handed sample collection accoutrements to insure clinical testing of samples to insure early discovery of contagious conditions,” the report stated.
Meanwhile, speaking to BBC News, British High Commissioner to Pakistan Christian Turner linked these cataracts to climate change. “The substantiation I’m seeing on the ground is that this position of impact is unknown. This isn’t just a bad thunderstorm season. It’s a whole lot further and I suppose it’s the period of climate catastrophe in which were are now by, ” he added.
Editorial: Flooding in Pakistan is More Than What It Seems
Defence Day form laid over
Independently, the army laid over the Defence Day form at the General Headquarters to express solidarity with the flood tide victims. ISPR principal Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar said that the Pakistan Armed Forces shall continue serving our sisters and sisters struck by unknown cataracts.
Source: Dawn News
