PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday strongly condemned the mismanagement and lack of precautionary measures taken by the government as heavy rains wreaked havoc in the country.
Floods in Southern Punjab, specifically in Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur and Tonsa Shareef have left thousands of families displaced. At least 78 rain and flood related deaths have also been reported from across the country.
PTI in a statement criticised the Punjab government for not issuing a flood warning to the people who were caught off guard as water entered their homes in the middle of the night. The statement lamented that monsoon rains come around the same time every year and that Rs6 billion funds have been allocated for the purpose, in what was another display of inefficiency by the Shahbaz Sharif led Punjab government.
The statement further criticised the Punjab administration for not initiating a search operation yet, adding that the government should immediately start relief operations in the affected areas.
They also said that the Pakistan Meteorological Department (Met) had issued warnings that rains may lead to floods, but the government had not paid any heed to contingency measures.
Imran Khan’s party also saw the intervention of the armed forces to tackle the crisis as sheer inefficiency of the Punjab government when it came to dealing with natural disasters.
The head of PTI Imran Khan expressed his condolences with the families who were affected by the heavy rains. He said that he stood by them in this hour of hardship.
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CM spending billions (tax payers money) on self and party projection and to support a media group. These ads may be stopped for some times and amount should be used for flood victims.
How many more floods will wake them up? Mismanagement from top to bottom. It is role of opposition to criticize when things are not heeded. Is it a rocket science to develop mechanism to respond and train government employees to tackle situation. With historical trend, it will happen again. It is our right to criticize government who is not putting its act together.
And every thing is not responsibility of federal government. Provincial government is there to embezzle money only.
Imran should avoid scoring ploitical points during a natural disaster, instead he and his "millions" of supporter should come out and help people. Punjab government, under the leadership of Mian Shehbaz Sharif is doing its best to help poor people.
I yet have to see anything from Imran Khan but criticism and hatred for PML (N). He is pretty naïve if thinks he is going to sweep across the country. Has he forgotten that his so called two heavy weights from Multan couldn’t deliver their hometown seat? And once its candidate lost the election, PTI disowned him. Couldn’t PTI disown him before the election?
Politics aside, it is time that Imran Khan gets mature and sees ground realities. If he thinks his popularity is going to win him next general election then why doesn’t he translate his popularity to win few by elections seats and prove all of us wrong? Also, he must think what if he doesn’t sweep the next election then who is going to get benefit from it? If PTI doesn’t make the next government, and it doesn’t make an alliance with PML (N) then who will make the next government? If it is Zardari for next Five years then only person to be blamed for that will be Imran Khan!
@fahad: Why are you considering it an issue of political manipulation? Tell me haven't we experienced similar floods in the last few years, have we done anything about it? There is an op-ed by Tazeen in today's ET about the same issue. Look at the other side, from Hurricane Katrina to Irene in US, how much have they tightened their management. I remember seeing that Mayor Bloomberg of New York going without much sleep for days in the latest hurricane that hit New York. This is how governance is supposed to be done. Why are we shooting the critic rather than fixing the problems?
IK and his useless blame game, the man has nothing better than negative thinking and bad mouthing others.
Govt machinery has failed to control decline in every sphere of public life thanks to deep divisions generated by unjust treatment of provincial civil service officers at the hands of a privileged minority service group. chief Minister is sincerely advised to take a sympathetic look at the plight of Provincial Management Service in Punjab. Motivation at that level invoked by the political ownership of the sitting govt can do wonders for any govt intent upon winning heart and minds of it's people.
Punjab Punjab Punjab. Give it a break. it's natural disaster for God's sake leave out politics for once.
Oh no, dont criticise Punjan Govt and its little heaven, people get upset with you PTI...Anyway punjan govt is more worried about the "Tsunami"
IK ( Zardari's B team ),
flood warning is a federal subject (or have you forgotten that we are a federation)
Secondly , the army is there for Pakistan and precisely for these matters . We don't pay them for nothing ..
IK, please don't play dirty politics