Govt won’t allow hoarding: Aurangzeb

LAHORE: Finance Minister and Senator Mohammad Aurangzeb said on Sunday that a climate and agricultural emergency has been declared by the prime minister and expressed commitment to rehabilitate flood-affected people.

The minister stated during his visit flood-affected areas of Toba Tek Singh district, including the Mal Fatyana Bridge, to assess the ongoing rescue and relief operations.

During his visit, the minister interacted with local media, highlighting the government’s continued efforts to support flood victims and mitigate the devastation caused by recent flooding across various regions of the country.

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“The government is making all-out efforts to manage the aftermath of the floods. We will not allow hoarding, which leads to artificial inflation as strict administrative and structural measures are being implemented to curb such practices,” he said while replying to a media question.

Aurangzeb said the federal cabinet, under the directives of the Prime Minister, had already declared two national emergencies on climate and agriculture to address the root causes and long-term implications of such disasters.

“So far, more than 116,000 people out of the 117,000 flood-affected individuals have been successfully evacuated,” he said, adding that this was achieved through coordinated rescue and relief efforts utilizing available resources. “From that perspective, we are in a good place,” he added.

The finance minister also addressed broader issues contributing to the crisis, including climate change, unregulated urban expansion and unsustainable agricultural practices.

“We must reflect on the self-inflicted pains such as poor zoning laws and inappropriate land use for housing societies and crop cultivation that exacerbate the damage from natural disasters,” he remarked. “There are lessons to be learned.”

He expressed confidence in the ongoing assessment of damages, saying that local, provincial, and federal authorities, along with the State Bank of Pakistan and relevant financial institutions, were collaborating to complete a comprehensive evaluation within the next 10 to 15 days, as floodwaters began to recede.

Aurangzeb affirmed that a comprehensive recovery strategy would be formulated to provide maximum relief to the affected populations. “The 300-day climate action plan, being led by the Ministry of Climate Change, will be executed in full coordination with provincial governments, as implementation would primarily occur at the local level,” he added.