Earthquake aftermath: All out help for K-P victims, says Shahbaz

Chief minister directs health secretary, Rescue 1122 DG to visit KPK

LAHORE:

The Punjab government will provide all out help to the earthquake-affected people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Tuesday.

He was chairing a meeting to review loss of life and property due to the earthquake.

“It was the worst earthquake in the country’s history. The government and people of the Punjab are with the affected people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and will extend all out help to them in the hour of distress,” he said.

The chief minister said that the government was sending 95 trucks carrying relief goods to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “Rescue-1122 teams are also being sent to earthquake-hit areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” he said.

He directed the health secretary and the Rescue 1122 director general to immediately visit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said that Rs500,000 each was being given to families of people who had lost their lives in the earthquake in the Punjab.

He said that a survey should be taken to assess damage to property.

He also ordered a survey of the metro bus track project in Rawalpindi-Islamabad to assess any damage caused by the earthquake.

The chief minister also directed the officials to set up a committee to increase the capacity of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and Rescue-1122.

The committee will present its recommendations within six weeks.

The PDMA director general briefed the meeting about the damage caused by the earthquake in the Punjab. Ministers Rana Sanaullah, Bilal Yasin, Khawaja Salman Rafique were present. The chief minister directed ministers to visit houses of people who had lost their relatives in the earthquake.

CM visits Kasur

Shahbaz Sharif visited Dostpura, Kasur, on Tuesday and met a family who had lost a member in the earthquake. Muhammad Ishaq had died after the roof his house collapsed. The chief minister offered fateha for the departed soul. The CM announced financial assistance of Rs1.3 million for the family.

Talking to the bereaved family and people of the area, the chief minister said that the government would take all steps to help the earthquake-affected people.

Camps

The City District Government Lahore (CDGL) on Tuesday set up 11 relief camps in Lahore to collect donations for earthquake victims. The camps have been set up at Lorry Adda (Ravi Town), Shalimar Chowk (Shalimar Town), Shadman, Lakshmi Chowk, The Mall (Data Ganj Bakhsh Town), Mughalpura Pull (Aziz Bhatti Town), Bata Factory (Wagha Town), Wapda Chowk (Iqbal Town), Moon Market (Samanabad Town and Nishtar Town).

Rescue 1122

Two Rescue 1122 specialised Urban Search and Rescue (USR) teams have been dispatched to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) for relief work.

Health Secretary Jawad Rafique Malik left for Swat on Tuesday for supervising treatment facilities being provided to earthquake-affected people.

A 38-member team comprising doctors, nurses and paramedical staff from Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Holy Family Hospital and District Headquarters Hospital Rawalpindi have also arrived in Swat.

Before his departure, Rafique presided over a meeting at Civil Secretariat. The meeting constituted medical teams for treatment of earthquake victims.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2015.