Punjab govt provides food packages to 3,000 flood-hit families of Peshawar

PESHAWAR: The Punjab government on Sunday provided food packages to around 3000 flood-affected families of the provincial metropolis.Punjab Health Minister Khwaja Imran Nazir along with Mayor Zubair Ali distributed relief items sent in six trucks among the flood-hit people of Peshawar.

Mayor Capital Metropolitan Government Zubair Ali thanked former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz for helping the affected people.He said that the Punjab government again came to the assistance of the affected people on his request and thanked everyone for playing a role in supporting these families.

The Punjab health minister handed the food packages to the families. He recalled that the government of Punjab had helped Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the past during the dengue virus outbreak and sent teams to control the dengue virus in Peshawar.

He said the Punjab had proved that it was always ready to help their countrymen in the hour of crisis.Mayor Zubair Ali said he had requested the Punjab government for help when heavy rains had destroyed houses, crops and damaged infrastructure in the provincial capital.

“Fertilizer, medicines and assistance in the health sector is still required. I hope that the Punjab government would also take steps to assist us in the livestock, agriculture, education and health sectors in the areas affected by the recent floods,” said the mayor who is associated with the opposition’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam led by Maulana Fazlur Rehman,

He pointed out that basic health units, regional health centers had been affected the most where furniture and medicines were destroyed in the natural calamity. “ I request the Punjab health minister to provide help for rehabilitating these facilities,” said the mayor.

Earlier, the delegation of the Punjab government was appraised at the City Council Hall of the situation in the flood-affected areas. The officials were briefed about the Capital Metropolitan Government steps for improving the situation.

Khwaja Imran Nazir said the Punjab government provided the relief items on the directives of the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.He said the then KP Governor Ghulam Ali, too, had held a meeting with Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz at Raiwand and informed them about the situation in the affected area.

Khwaja Imran Nazir said soon after the meeting, the Punjab government dispatched six truckloads of food items which, he thought, would be sufficient to meet the needs of these families for a month.

He said he had been directed by CM Maryam Nawaz to take stock of the situation and find ways on how the Punjab government could further assist KP.The Punjab minister announced that a mobile field hospital would visit the affected areas and the medical team would remain there for a week. “The Punjab government will continue such support without considering political affiliations,” he promised.

He said he would convey the message of the Peshawar City Council members to the Punjab chief minister. “The Punjab government will not only assist the local government but was also ready to help the KP government,” said Khwaja Imran Nazir.