Deluged areas declared calamity-hit

The flood-affected areas of Rajanpur and Dera Ghazi Khan have been declared calamity-hit and the paths of the hill torrents will be channelised to avoid damage in future, Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi announced on Tuesday. The chief minister visited the flood-hit areas of Rajanpur and Dera Ghazi Khan, inspected relief activities and distributed financial aid cheques of Rs800,000 among the heirs of people who had lost their lives in the deluge.

He directed the authorities to provide allout help to the flood victims and prayed for the departed souls. He announced that the provincial government would declare calamity-hit all the flood-affected areas. He said the path of the flow of hill torrents’ in the areas will be channelised to avoid damage caused by floods. The chief minister visited a rescue operation centre in the Shahpur area of Rajanpur and met flood victims besides inspecting the relief activities.

He asserted that the Punjab government stood with the affected people and it wanted their early rehabilitation. The people facing problems would not be ignored, he said and added that the government had set up medical camps where the flood victims were being vaccinated against epidemics. The families of the deceased are being given financial assistance of Rs800,000 each. “I assure you that the government will continue to take every possible measure to help the flood victims,” he added.

The CM also visited the Chhatani area of Taunsa and consoled flood victims. Speaking to the media, he asserted that he would not allow the rights of any flood victim to be violated. Damage to crops and houses will be compensated soon, he assured the affeced people. He said he had inspected all the flood-affected areas of Rajanpur and DG Khan.

The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and line departments will immediately start work for short-term and long-term planning to avoid damage caused by floods, he added. The chief minister said he had visited the area during floods in 2004, Khawaja Sahib brought me here. “I planned to channelise the hill torrents’ paths and allocated Rs2.5 billion for this job. At that time, the dollar was worth Rs60 but Shehbaz Sharif did nothing during his rule and wasted 15 years which increased the project cost enormously,” he said.

The CM said all the affected people would be served without caring for political attachment and their hearts would be won. The damage assessment survey will be fully transparent, he added. “All MNAs and MPAs here are my colleagues and they are engaged in serving the affected people in the flood-hit areas.” The chief minister ordered immediate start of development work in the affected areas from the Rs20 billion allocated by the government.

He also announced that the inundation of Shadan Lond food center and its wheat stock would be investigated. The Dera Ghazi Khan commissioner said relief camps had been set up and food was being provided to the affectees besides their vaccination. The chief minister made an aerial visit to the floodaffected areas of Rajanpur and Dera Ghazi Khan after the ground visit. The irrigation secretary briefed him about the relief activities.

The CM directed the officials to speed up the relief activities, adding that the supply of food items to the affected population should be continued while ensuring every possible help to the people in need. Earlier, he took a briefing in the plane while leaving for the flood-hit areas of South Punjab. He was apprised about medical camps and relief activities in the affected areas. The CM issued directives for the rehabilitation of the flood-affected people.