16 flood-hit villages in Diamer given relief goods

Various organisations distributed relief goods in 16 villages that were affected by the recent floods.

GILGIT: The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) and another non-governmental organisations (NGO) distributed relief goods in 16 villages of the Diamer District that were affected by the recent floods, an NGO official told The Express Tribune on Friday.

“From October 11 to 25, a total of 1,596 families affected in the district were given relief packages containing 130 tons of flour, 6 tons of cooking oil and other items,” said Ishfaq Ahmed a representative of the Diamer Party Allocation Programme (DPAP).

Ahmed said that they would reach out to other villages of the district as well by the end of this month to ensure that the affected people get their share of relief goods. With winter approaching in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), the people most affected by this calamity have urged the government to speedup the rehabilitation process before they are struck by the bitter cold weather. “We are in need of assistance and winter has started in the region,” said Mastan Khan, a resident of Chilas.

Leader of the opposition party in the G-B Legislative Assembly, Bashir Ahmed, a native of the district, criticised the government for ‘ignoring’ Diamer during the relief and rehabilitation process.

“We are not satisfied with the performance of government. Our district has been neglected so far,” he said, urging the government to accelerate the delivery of relief to the people.

People in the Khiner, Gaise, and Khanbari valleys are also in need of help, he said. In the Diamer district alone, nearly a 100 people have been killed in floods and landslides.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2010.