Web Desk (LTN NEWS): Monday, the ruling alliance met to talk about how to help the millions of flood victims and get them back on their feet. They also talked about how to deal with natural disasters of this size in the future. The flooding was caused by monsoon rains that had never happened before, and they affected almost a third of the country.
The meeting, which was led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, also decided to set up a National Flood Response and Coordination Centre, which will be made up of federal ministers, representatives of the armed forces, chief ministers, and experts. This will help the government respond to the disaster in the right way.
Read More: Govt establishes National Flood Response and Coordination Centre
Also, it was decided that all illegal buildings along rivers and other waterways would be taken down.
The three service chiefs, the chief ministers of Balochistan and Sindh via video link, leaders of allied parties, federal ministers, and senior officials from Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan were all at the meeting.
In a series of tweets after the meeting, the PM Office said, “The Centre will serve as a bridge between disaster management authorities, donors, and government institutions.” It will get the latest information, look at it, and send it to the government agencies that need it. It will also be in charge of rescue and relief efforts, as well as the rebuilding of infrastructure.
Earlier, when PM Shehbaz went to the flood-hit areas of Charsadda and Nowshera in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, he said that every family affected by the disaster would get Rs25,000 and that the money would be given out by September 3.
The prime minister also went to the Abdul Wali Khan Sports complex and the Agra union council in Charsadda, where relief camps had been set up, to meet with families who had been hurt.
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The PM told reporters that Rs1 million would be given to the families of flood victims.
QWP chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao and JUI (F) district emir Maulana Gohar Shah also told the prime minister about the work to rebuild the Munda headworks and help the people who were affected by the floods get back on their feet.
Losses in Balochistan
Flooding caused by hill torrents and rains is still wreaking havoc in Balochistan, making it harder for rescue and relief operations and efforts to reconnect with other provinces. There are also more reports of deaths from different parts of the province.
Mir Abdul Qudus Bizenjo, the Chief Minister of Balochistan, told reporters on Monday that the province has lost more than Rs200 billion in the last couple of months because of damage caused by rain and floods. He said that in the past, natural disasters only caused damage in certain areas, but that this flood had hurt all 34 districts.
He said that a survey was being done in all the affected districts and that when the final report came out, the losses could be well over Rs200bn.
Read More: PM calls a meeting on the flood situation in Sindh and Balochistan
He said that the province might run out of food because it isn’t connected to the rest of the world. He also said that he had told the prime minister that food and other things should be flown to the province.
In a separate incident, the roof of a house in the Mach area of the Bolan district fell on a family of five, killing four women.
Also, Quetta and other parts of the province couldn’t get gas again because the Bolan River was still flooded. Three big bridges were washed away in Bibi Nani, Mach, and near Dhadar in the Bolan district, which has kept the Quetta-Sukkur highway closed for the past two weeks.
Commander of the 12 Corps in Quetta, Lt. Gen Asif Ghafoor, also went to the area around the Bibi Nani Bridge and asked the NHA to fix all three bridges within the next 24 hours.
Because the flooding and rains are so bad, the Balochistan government has decided to keep all public and private schools, colleges, and universities closed for another week, until September 4.
