Imran raises Rs5b funds for flood victims within hours

Former PM says no government alone can deal with such catastrophe

ISLAMABAD:

Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday held an international telethon through which he raised Rs5 billion in funds for the flood-affected people.

In his message at the onset of the telethon, Imran said the objective of holding it was to raise funds for the flood victims as no government alone could deal with such catastrophe.

“The entire country has been affected by this [flood] … as per initial assessment, losses of over Rs1,000 billion were incurred due to floods and over 1,000 people have died so far,” he remarked.

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He said he received a lot of calls from Pakistanis, including expats who wanted to help the flood victims. The former premier said people can donate to two bank accounts opened by Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa governments. The funds will be spent to help the flood-hit people across the country, he assured.

The event was moderated by PTI leader Faisal Javed while chief ministers of Punjab and K-P — Perviaz Elahi and Mahmood Khan — and the former premier’s ex-assistant on social protection Sania Nishtar were also present on the occasion.

The initial economic losses from floods in Pakistan could reach at least $10 billion, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal told Reuters in an interview earlier today.

Read: PTI to move IHC seeking live-telecast of Imran’s telethon for flood donations

Unprecedented and historical flash floods caused by abnormal monsoon rains have washed away roads, crops, infrastructure and bridges, killing more than 1,000 people in recent weeks and affecting over 33 million.

"I think it is going to be huge. So far, [a] very early, preliminary estimate is that it is big, it is higher than $10 billion," Iqbal said.

The minister said it might take five years to rebuild and rehabilitate the nation of 200 million people, which will be facing an acute challenge of food shortage.