Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information, Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani Tuesday said that Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has approved an amount of Rs.140 million for carrying out relief operation in the rain- and flood- affected district Chitral. Briefing media here regarding the relief operation carried out by the provincial government in the district, he said that Rs.100 million will be provided to Communication and Works (C&W) Chitral, Rs.30 million to PHED and Rs.10 million to Irrigation Department of district Chitral respectively to mobilise contractors on restoration and rehabilitation work on the damaged infrastructure.
Giving details of the damages, he said that a total of 26 villages have been badly affected while 103 houses were destroyed completely and 63 were damaged partially. The heavy rains and flood also destroyed 25 water supply schemes. He said that major highways including Chitral-Drosh Road, Chitral-Ghoch Road, Chitral-Garamchashma Road, Chitral-Bomborait Road, Chitral-Mastuj Road and Chitral-Boni Road have been destroyed completely while link roads to different villages have also been damaged.
Similarly, he said Shoorgul, Chitral-Cheshma Road, Mastuj Road, Village Addu and Ohar Road have been washed away in flood while 30% trees were also washed away and 40% agriculture land of the area was badly affected. Besides, nine bridges and a hotel, power station, several cattle and vehicles have also been washed away in river while a private college had also destroyed.
The provincial minister said that due to flowing of electricity poles, power supply to the affected areas has been suspended and urged the federal government to direct concerned authorities for immediate restoration of power supply to minimise the difficulties of the flood affectees. According to Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) sufficient relief funds have been placed at the disposal of District Chitral before the onset of current monsoons for carrying out relief activities in flood hit areas.
He said that district administration; Pakistan Army and Chitral Scouts have started shifting of the people to save areas. Furthermore, district administration has declared emergency and Deputy Commissioner has convened an emergency meeting of all departments to continue relief operation without any delay. He said that Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pervez Khattak and PTI chief Imran Khan are all set to visit the rain and flood affected district Swat on Wednesday to review losses and take steps for the relief and rehabilitation of the affected people.
Meanwhile, according to Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) an amount of Rs.20 million is already available in the relief account of District Chitral. DC Chitral has been authorised for Rs.200,000/- out of relief funds for supply of drinking water to affected areas. For provision of food items Deputy Commissioner Chitral has been authorised to procure and stock essential food items worth Rs.1 million for distribution amongst the affected population of cut off areas.
PDMA has transported 20 tons (500 Packages) of food items to the district on 20th July 2015 while a consignment of another 20 tons food items is being sent in a couple of days. PDMA team headed by Director General, PDMA is present in Chitral for needs assessment and provision of relief. Similarly, for provision of non-food items, the district administration has already been provided non-food items i.e. tents, blankets etc. However, so far only 50-60 houses have been reported as partially damaged. The current stock is sufficient to cater for the existing needs; however, PDMA can transport more NFIs from its Humanitarian Response Facility (HRF) if required.
Comments
Comments are closed.