‘Will not leave you alone’, PM assures flood-hit people of Balochistan
Heavy rains and floods have unleashed devastation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, leaving 19 more dead and hundreds of others stranded in both provinces, disaster management authorities said.
Relentless monsoon rains have pummeled the country and spelled disaster in towns, cities and villages alike.
The Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps have been aiding the civil administration in rescue and relief operations in the provinces.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said that the federal government would not leave the flood-affected people alone in this hour of trial.
The premier said this during his visit to Balochistan’s Jhal Magsi district, where he reviewed the pace of rescue and relief operations.
Chief Secretary Balochistan Abdul Aziz Uqaili, Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) MNA Nawabzada Khalid Magsi and other high-level officials received the premier at the airport.
Shehbaz Sharif announced Rs1 million compensation for the heirs of those who lost their lives in recent floods in Balochistan.
As per the announcement, Rs0.5 million would be provided to those whose houses have been damaged completely and Rs0.2 million to those whose residences have been partially damaged.
Floods have wreaked havoc in the Jhal Magsi and Lasbela districts of Balochistan. The premier also met the flood-affected people and assured them that his government was committed to rehabilitating all flood-affected people.
“We will not leave you alone,” the prime minister told an elderly man. He said it was the responsibility of the provincial and federal governments to support the affected people.
He said he had constituted four committees which would hold consultation with the provinces to assess the losses of livestock and damage to the crops, adding that in the next meeting in Islamabad on August 3, the situation after floods would be further reviewed.
The prime minister took an aerial view of Goth Ali Mardan Shambani in Jhal Magsi and other affected areas to assess the losses and the chief secretary Balochistan during the flight gave details about the flood situation and the relief operations.
He stopped at the Shambani village and met with the people affected by the floods. The prime minister directed for establishing of a medical camp and provision of medicines for the affected village.
He also ordered posting of a veterinary doctor for the livestock and asked the authorities to immediately arrange two boats and ration for the villages and speed up the relief activities for the affectees.
Chief Secretary Balochistan immediately sent additional teams for relief activities in the flood-affected areas.
The PM’s scheduled visit to flood-affected areas of Balochistan province was earlier deferred due to inclement weather, according to a press release issued by the PM Office.
The Pakistan Air Force, on special instructions from Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, continued its relief and rescue operations in the province, said a statement from the PAF.
The PAF added that its “personnel and helicopter fleet are actively engaged in providing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief support to the people stranded in flash floods affected areas of Balochistan”.
The statement elaborated that the force has distributed 4,200 kgs of rations comprising flour, ghee, sugar, lentils and tea in the flood-affected areas.
“Additionally, several families have been evacuated from land-locked areas to safer places.”
Balochistan in particular has seen uncharacteristically heavy rains during the monsoon season this year. In the last 24 hours, nine of a family drowned after they were swept away by the floods, the PDMA said in an update.
According to Balochistan Chief Secretary Abdul Aziz Uqaili, since June 1, rains have taken the lives of 124 people and damaged 10,000 houses in the province.
At a press conference on Friday, he revealed that floods damaged approximately 565 km of roads and 197,930-acre of agricultural land while 712 livestock also died.
He said 17,500 people affected by heavy rains and flash floods were rescued while the federal and the provincial governments have announced Rs1 million compensation for the deceased.
Section 144 has been enforced in the province and the citizens have been advised to avoid unnecessary travel for 10 days, Uqaili added.
Meanwhile, the road link of Balochistan with Sindh was completely cut off after a bridge and a road connecting the two provinces were damaged in Lasbela and Khuzdar, respectively.
Traffic on the Quetta-Karachi highway was still suspended due to collapsing of major bridges and sweeping away of big portions of the highway.
Separately, trade between Pakistan and Iran was suspended after rains and flash floods washed away Quetta-Zahedan rail track at various points
A rescue operation by the PDMA and the Pakistan Army is underway in the province. On Saturday, relief goods were sent to flood-affected people in Quetta, Nasirabad, Jaffarabad, Dera Bughti, Khuzdar, Noshki and Kila Saifullah.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, at least 10 people were killed and 17 injured in floods and roof collapses, according to a report issued by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA).
It said that in the last 36 hours, nearly 100 houses were completely damaged in the floods leaving residents stranded in waist-high water and no roof. The most-affected areas include Khyber, Mansehra, Lower Dir, Buner, Swabi and Dera Ismail Khan.
The PDMA has warned that there were high-level floods in the Kabul and Jandi rivers and instructed administration to relocate people living in neighbouring areas.
It added that the public could reach out to 1700 in case of an emergency situation.—INP
