People stand inside a house destroyed by earthquake in Shangla. PHOTO: ONLINE
“The fund will be generated through the government, local and international donors to be used for DRR preparedness, infrastructure protection and disaster risk insurance,” Ahmed Kamal, member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), told The Express Tribune on Wednesday.
In hour of need, disaster fund not operational
Meanwhile, funds will be used for relief activities in case a natural calamity hits the country, he added.
For the last three to four months, Kamal said, NDMA has been working on this proposal and hopefully it will materialise soon.
Quake updates
As many as 273 people have been reportedly killed and 2,014 sustained injuries in the October 26 earthquake, according to a preliminary report compiled by NDMA.
Disaster panel dormant since 2012
So far 495 schools and 74,639 houses have been damaged in the earthquake, it added.
Highest number of casualties has been reported from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa where the earthquake has claimed 226 lives and left 1,623 people injured. It also damaged 63,305 houses and 495 schools.
Relief activities
According to the NDMA report, 43,523 tents, 53,544 blankets, 6,494 plastic mats, 733.87 tons of food packs, 14 tons of water bottles and 27 tons of medicines have been distributed among the affected people by NDMA and armed forces.
ADB expresses interest in funding upgrades for Pakistan’s power distribution system
Over 100 aftershocks have jolted the country since the October 26 tremor.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 5th, 2015.
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