President Dr Arif Alvi Thursday said the relief aid from the global community and well off persons was needed to help the millions of people, affected by torrential rains and floods particularly in Sindh. He expressed these views while talking to the media persons at a tent city set up in Sakrand town of Shaheed Benazirabad district.
Quoting the local authorities, the president said the rains and floods would start decreasing during next 15 days. He said once the deluged lands dried up, the government would start rehabilitation of the displaced people. He expressed satisfaction over the services and facilities being provided by the government in the tent city.
Deputy Commissioner Aamir Hussain Panhwar briefed the president that 35 people lost their lives during the calamity while 559,404 people were affected and 389,529 had faced displacement. According to him, some 17,774 people were staying in the government’s 163 relief camps. The DC apprised that the rains and flood completely or partially damaged 134,105 houses and ravaged crops on 247,857 acres farmland. He informed the president that his administration had received 11,700 tents.
The DC said even the city’s Airport, railway tracks and grid stations were inundated. He, however, assured the president that the railway track would be cleared very soon so that the traffic from Karachi could be connected to the upcountry. Commissioner Rasheed Ahmed Zardari, DIG Irfan Baloch and other officers accompanied the president.
The president announced Rs 50 million donation for the flood victims of Benazirabad. The president expressed his grief and sorrow on the deaths of over 1,100 people, across the country, including 350 children and injury to more than 1,900 people. He added that the loss of over 700,000 livestock and crops over two million acres of land has deprived a sizable population of their only source of livelihood. He regretted that the damage to over 1 million houses across the country has rendered millions of people homeless.
