Opposition leader urges premier to rebuild lives in flood-hit Chitral

Shah pens letter to PM, calling for rebuilding houses in Chitral and waiving off loans for residents

ISLAMABAD: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah has called on the prime minister to alleviate the sufferings of people affected by the recent floods in Chitral.

In a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday, Shah said that the houses of flood affectees need to be constructed and for this purpose, the government should provide them land free of cost.

Shah, who visited the area on August 12, said about 700 houses there had been completely destroyed, while 300 were partially damaged by floods.

Read: Natural calamity: Recurring floods in Chitral make relief work difficult

He further said that loan acquired by flood affectees from the House Building Finance Corporation as well as agriculture loans in the district should be waived-off.

The opposition leader further suggested that residents of Chitral be either offered a subsidy on wheat similar to how it is being done in Gilgit-Baltistan or the commodity be distributed free of cost to them as done by the government in Thar.

Read: Natural calamity: Flash floods leave trail of destruction in Chitral

Further, Shah, while highlighting that the literacy rate in Chitral is now 67%, called on the premier to upgrade a campus to a full-fledged university, he added.

He also called for enhancing the number of seats reserved for students of Chitral in engineering and medical universities.