PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government on Saturday exempted the flood-hit districts from all provincial taxes and requested the federal government to do the same, as a provincial minister said the death toll from the floods was likely to rise upto 800.
Briefing the media, Information Minister and provincial government spokesperson Mian Iftikhar Hussain said people of the flood-devastated areas had lost their livelihoods and could not pay the taxes.
Asking the federal government to declare these areas calamity-hit and waive its taxes, he said the provincial government would stand by the people unable to pay federal taxes.
Mian Iftikhar said 21 helicopters were engaged in rescue and relief work across the province and besides the army and the US government, President Zardari had provided four choppers to the province for relief and rescue operations.
To lessen miseries of the flood-hit people, he said the provincial government has formed 12 monitoring committees comprising provincial ministers, public representatives and government officials to visit the affected areas to collect information about losses and coordinate relief work. Lawmakers from the affected districts have been named to the committees.
Mian Iftikhar said the floods had killed 438 people and injured 139 others while about 104 were still missing in the areas inundated by floodwater.
However, he said according to unconfirmed reports the death toll was around 800 and might go up as several villages were still under water.
The minister said that 26,757 people had been stranded in the submerged areas while about 3,789 had been rescued and shifted to safer places.
He said meal packages were provided to the affectees in Charsadda, while food was distributed to 4,950 families in Tank, DI Khan, Lakki Marwat, Bannu, Kohistan and Peshawar.
Mian Iftikhar said Rs23 million had also been released to the affected districts and the planning and finance departments had been directed to increase compensation to those who had lost lives in the catastrophe.
The minister appealed to the international community, federal government and other organisations to come forward and help the province to cope with the devastation wreaked by the floods.
Meanwhile, the devastating floods continued to wreak havoc in the Peshawar valley, Malakand and Hazara divisions and other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as the death toll kept rising and scores of villages were destroyed.
Charsadda, Peshawar and Nowshera were among the worst-hit districts where 16 bodies were retrieved and casualties were reported from scattered parts of the flood-hit areas.
Mover than fifty villages of Peshawar district remained inundated while residents from Khazana camp for Afghan refugee continued shifting to safer places as water level rose further in river Shah Alam. However, water level in Budhni stream and Naguman river was receding.
The Motorway between Peshawar and Islamabad and the G T Road remained closed due to broken down bridges and flooding. Later in the evening, the Motorway authorities announced it had been opened for light vehicles.
Prices of almost everything went up in Peshawar and other places due to lack of supplies. Shortages of food and other items was also being reported from many parts of the province.
Nowshera: In Nowshera, where the Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani visited the flood-hit areas, about 6,000 people were rescued and 16 bodies recovered during the operation by the Army jawans and locals by helicopters and boats. Dozens of villages remained inundated in the district.
The army chief visited the garrison city where he was briefed by district coordination officer (DCO) Roohullah about the damages caused by the floods and monsoon rains. Several areas including Nowshera Kalan, Nowshera Cantonment, Pir Sabaq, Pashtoon Garhi, Amangarh and Pabbi were adversely affected by the flash floods. At least six bodies were recovered from Mohib Banda and five people were killed when their boat capsized during a rescue operation in Nowshera Kalan.
Charsadda: The district lost its road link with Peshawar after a portion of the bridge on river Sardaryab collapsed, leaving thousands of people in Doaba, Kot, Tarnab, Dildar Garhi, etc stranded.
However, water level at both Khiyali and Sardaryab rivers did not rise. The discharge could not be measured due to overflow of water in both the rivers. People continued to shift to safer places. Some even took bodies of those killed in the flood-related incident with them as the graveyards in the areas along the two rivers have also been flooded.
Shabqadar: Three unclaimed bodies were found at Munda headworks at the boundary of the Mohmand Agency and Charsadda district. The bodies were shifted to Civil Hospital Shabqadar.
Mingora: Three hundred persons were killed in flood caused by torrential rains in Swat valley and the floodwater also washed away scores of shops, houses, vehicles and destroyed standing crops and orchards on thousands of acres of land in Kalam, Bahrain, Madyan and Matta areas.
Peshawar Corps Commander Lt Gen Asif Yasin Malik assured the people of Swat that the army was with them at this critical juncture and was carrying out rescue and relief operations there.
During his visit to Swat where he was briefed by operation in-charge Maj Gen Ashfaq Nadeem about the flood situation at the Circuit House, he directed the officers and jawans to help the affected people and continue relief and rescue activities.
Meanwhile, the power house in Swat has been damaged and power supply to Swat has been disconnected. All bridges on river Swat have been swept away cutting communication links in the district.
Bisham: Shangla district was also devastated where death toll climbed to 180 while 80 others sustained injuries due to heavy rains and floods. Over 100 bridges and several kilometres of roads were washed away by the flash floods.
Provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain asked the National Highway Authority to restore the main road so that Shangla could be re-linked to Mingora and other parts of the province. Otherwise, he pointed out, there would be acute food shortage in the district. All main roads and link roads in Shangla were still closed hindering rescue and relief activities. The road from district headquarters, Alpuri to Bisham was damaged and unusable at many places.
Manshera: Hundreds of tourists and visitors including Federal Public Service Commission Chairman Justice (R) Rana Bhagwandas, were trapped in Kaghan valley as a large portion of the road between Kaghan and Balakot was washed away by heavy floods in river Kunhar. An ex-chairman of district Manshera Syed Nooruddin Shah, who was busy in rescue activities, drowned in river Kunhar at Rajwal.
Chinese engineers who were trapped in district Kohistan’s Dobair village working on a hydel-power project were airlifted to Mansehra. Totalling over 200, they had climbed a hill to save their lives after their camp was flooded.
Ex-MNA from Kohistan Malik Aurangzeb said that residents of Kandia, Pattan and Dobair took shelter in the hills to escape flooding. There is no rescue activity by the provincial and federal government and Dobair village was inundated, he said.
Karak: The building of Basic Health Unit Dabb, damaged by floodwater, collapsed. At least two kids lost their lives when they drowned in flood tide in Takht Nasrati.
Lakki Marwat: Floodwater entered houses in Lakki and Naurang towns and the residents also found a body on the banks of river Gambila near Chowki Jand. Bodies of villagers Dilawar Khan and Zainullah were recovered from river Kurrum.
The district administration dispatched aid consignments of tents and food items to Naurang, Lakki and other places in the district
Dera Ismail Khan: Several village of Dera Ismail Khan were inundated as the district administration and the army mounted a joint rescue operation.
The district is facing flood threat as Chashma Right Bank Canal was overflowing and the water level was rising to alarming levels.
Five relief camps have been set up in affected areas, but the affectees were complaining of lack of help. Officials said relief activities were underway in the areas where the water was receding.
Malakand Agency: Three members of a family were killed and another injured when their house collapsed in Sharif Khan Killay in Sakhakot area here.
APP adds: The rain-flood related death toll climbed to 37 and over 110 were injured besides displacing 122,035 villagers and damaging 289,187 acres standing crop across the Punjab province.
Provincial Relief Commissioner Punjab, Ikhlaq Ahmad Tarar told APP here Saturday that 18 people were killed in Lahore, while three each in Gujrat, Mianwali, Rajanpur, Sialkot and two each in Rawalpindi, Attock, Khushab and one in Bhakkar.
He said that 51 relief camps at Rajanpur, Mianwali, Khushab, Attock and Bhakkar had already been established to house the 1,460 affectees. He said so far, a total of 1,140 houses were completely damaged, while 5,219 partially. He said that 196 cattle also fell prey to flood. He said that an area of 517,007 acres of 353 villages belonging to Rajanpur, Mianwali, Khushab, Bhakkar and DG Khan was affected.
DG Relief Punjab, Rizwanullah Baig told APP that Punjab Relief Department has also provided 2,654 food packets, 14,069 wheat flour bags of 10 kg, 10 tents to affectees, while 1,517 persons were evacuated through boats.
Director Operation Punjab Muhammad Akram told this news agency that 18,900 animals were vaccinated, 13,054 animals were dewormed and 8,509 affectees were provided medical treatment by the mobile teams of concerned provincial department.
He said in order to ensure full safety to the people, timely warnings are being issued through electronic and print media about the rain and flood situation. He said food, vaccination, medicines and fodder had already been made available in affected areas.
He said, “We have complete liaison with army in order to meet any eventuality arising out of flash flood and heavy rains.”
Meanwhile, the UN reported Saturday nearly a million people have been affected by severe floods following torrential monsoon rains over the past three days in north-western Pakistan, with hundreds dead and most of the stricken areas cut off, limiting access and relief efforts,
The death toll in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is more than 290 and several hundred others have been injured, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated, quoting figures provided by National Disaster Management officials.
The floods have caused major damage to infrastructure, including roads and at least 45 bridges, as wells as thousands of homes, the agency said.
While, addressing a press conference in Rawalpindi, Director General of Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Athar Abbas said that over 30,000 troops were active in relief efforts and over 19,000 marooned people were rescued from flood-hit areas.
He said that the armed forces were providing all possible assistance to the flood affected people, adding that the flood situation was vigilantly being monitored.
PR adds: Pakistan Navy Search and Rescue (SAR) Operation MADAD in flood hit areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has gained the momentum. The teams deployed in Nowshera and Charsadda regions are engaged in extensive flood relief operations. Despite experiencing technical problems, PN personnel are continuing efforts and have so far rescued 500 personnel from Nowshera, while two teams engaged in SAR operation in the suburbs of Charsada, continued their operation during night as well and evacuated 300 stranded personnel, says press release.
SANA adds: Minister for Interior Rehman Malik on Saturday said the government would provide cooked food to flood affectees and all out efforts are being made to provide relief to the stranded people in different areas of the country.
In a telephonic talk with a private news channel, he said the government is taking several measures to mitigate sufferings of the affectees. Medicines with paramedical staff and doctors are also being sent to flood affected areas, he added.
The minister said President Asif Ali Zardari is monitoring the relief activities for flood affected areas through monitoring cells.
