PM makes urgent appeal for donations

ISLAMABAD:

 

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday appealed to well-to-do segments of society to come forward and make arrangements for the supply of food items for infants and nascent children in the flood-affected areas.

Addressing a meeting to review the flood situation, and rescue and relief measures in the flood-hit areas, prior to his departure to the United Kingdom and the US at Nur Khan airbase, the prime minister urged the wealthy people to also arrange blankets, quilts and warm clothes as the winter season was approaching.

The appeal came as the National Disaster Management Authority in its daily situation report on Saturday said the death toll from floods has risen by 37 during the last 24 hours.

The cumulative death toll since June 14 now stood at 1,545, the report added.

It showed that 92 individuals had sustained injuries due to floods in the last 24 hours, raising the total number of injured reported since mid-June to 12,850.

Record monsoon rains in south and southwest Pakistan and glacial melt in northern areas have triggered the flooding that has affected nearly 33 million people, sweeping away homes, crops, bridges, roads and livestock and causing an estimated $30 billion of damage.

He urged them to make arrangements on their behalf or supply the much-needed items to the affected areas through well-established humanitarian bodies, provincial departments and different centres set up by the armed forces across the country.

About his recent visit to Uzbekistan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, the prime minister apprised that all the heads and leaders of the SCO member states, Central Asian Republics, China, Turkiye and others had expressed solidarity and support to the flood victims of Pakistan for which he thanked them individually.

They had also inquired about further requirements and support, he said, adding that he told them that from their limited resources, they were also making arrangements and spending billions of rupees.

Out of the allocated Rs70 billion to support each flood-affected family with Rs25,000 compensation amount,  so far Rs 30 billion had been distributed through Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in a very transparent manner.

The prime minister said that he had apprised the SCO member states that this compensation amount was being distributed through a renowned system of BISP which had international credibility.

They were informed that a joint survey was being compiled which would enable the government of Pakistan to get a complete estimate of the total losses incurred during the recent floods, he added.

The prime minister said the survey would ensure to plug any loophole, adding in collaboration with the provincial governments, the federal government was compensating for the millions of houses destroyed in the natural calamity. The electricity bills of the affected populace had been waived.

He further assured the SCO leaders that the whole machinery and the armed forces of Pakistan had been working together, on war footing, to provide relief and compensate the affected families.

National Flood Response Coordination Center (NFRCC) officials informed the prime minister about the relief and rehabilitation activities.

The meeting was told that according to the latest estimate, 23 districts of Sindh, 31 of Balochistan, 17 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two districts of Punjab were affected by the floods.

The participants of the meeting were briefed about the losses of infrastructure, men and material and jobs in the affected districts.

The representatives of national and provincial disaster management authorities informed the PM about the ongoing rescue and relief activities.