Provinces to get 'all necessary assistance' against floods: Nawaz

Prime Minister directs Information Minister Pervez Rasheed to closely monitor the flood situation.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has expressed extreme sorrow over the human lives and property lost to the current floods in the country and has ordered that the provincial governments be provided with all necessary assistance to deal with the catastrophe.

The prime minister, currently in Saudi Arabia, directed the concerned departments to maintain close liaison with the provincial governments for a coordinated response to the flood situation.

Sources said that prime minister has directed the information minister Parvez Rasheed to keep an aye on the developments regarding flood and remain in close touch with officials of National Disaster management Authority (NDMA) to hourly account.

The heavy summer rains have triggered flash floods in Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and South Punjab, causing widespread devastation across the three provinces, submerging several villages and drowning dozens of people, according to reports.

Torrential rains also flooded rivers and drains in northern parts of the country, washing complete communities away with it.

According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, there was middle-level flood in the Sindh, Jhelum and Chenab and rivers. Meanwhile, an emergency was declared after a breach in an embankment in Jhal Magsi district of Balochistan. Water level was also surging in River Mola in Jhal Magsi.

Deputy Commissioner said that people were being shifted to safer places. Life boats are being used to transport the population from affected areas to safe locales.

The Met office has predicted more rains in various parts of the country during the next 24 hours.

Nowshehra was put on high alert amid fears as floodwaters were fast heading towards the city after wreaking havoc in other parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Reports indicate that water flow in Budhni Nullah has receded but that traffic was still suspended on Charsadda road. An even more menacing 50,000 cusecs of floodwater was expected to reach Warsak this morning, threatening all habitations along the banks of River Kabul.