Flood death toll rises to 554 as PM Shehbaz Sharif sets up relief fund

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has established a relief fund for the assistance of flood-affected people as the death toll in horrific floods across the country reached 554 and only in Balochistan 176 people lost their lives, besides large-scale destruction of property and infrastructure.

In a statement, the prime minister made a fervent appeal to the people, especially the philanthropists, to generously help the people affected by the floods and send their donations through the funds. Talking about the devastation caused by the floods due to unprecedented rains, he said there had been extraordinary destruction in Balochistan whilst immense losses have also been caused in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.

Shehbaz Sharif said despite the difficult economic situation, the government immediately released five billion rupees for the flood victims.

The federal government has already declared an emergency in the flood-ravaged areas while the provincial governments have also been asked to declare the affected areas as calamity hit so that relief activities can be further accelerated.

Later, while chairing a follow-up meeting, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, reviewed the implementation of decisions regarding relief work in the flood-affected areas. He instructed the national and provincial management authorities to increase coordination to carry out rescue and relief activities in the affected areas.

In a related development, the ECC has approved Rs5 billion as a supplementary grant for the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) for executing relief work in the flood-affected areas.

The ECC, after deliberation, approved the technical supplementary grant of Rs5 billion for NDMA. The amount will be allocated from the contingency provision of the Finance Division as block provision to NDMF. The finance minister also directed for the transfer of funds immediately, for the timely help of the affectees.

Deaths were reported in Bolan, Quetta, Zhob, Dakki, Khuzdar, Kohlu, Kech, Mastoong, Harnai, Qila Saifullah and Sibbi. Another 75 people including 48 men, 11 women and 16 children were injured due to the floods, the PDMA said. It reported that a total of 18,087 homes were damaged or demolished due to the floods in the province. Six different highways with 670-km length and 16 bridges were damaged due to the floods, it added.

At the same time, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) reported that three more deaths were recorded across the country due to monsoon rains in the past 24 hours. The total number of deaths due to floods and rains across the country was 552 while the number of injured was 628, the NDMA spokesperson in a media release said. According to the preliminary report of damages, 49,778 houses were damaged due to floods and rains.

On the instructions of the prime minister, the distribution of relief cheques of Rs one million per person to the flood victims was in progress. The NDMA has also sent more relief items to Lasbela, including tents, tarpaulins and generators. Moreover, welfare organisations were continuing to provide rations to the victims of Lasbela and Quetta.

The authority report also underlined the situation of rivers that claimed water flow in all rivers was normal. The Karakoram Highway was restored for light and medium traffic at Achar Nala whereas construction of a steel bridge over Achar Nala was in progress. It reported all other national highways and motorways were operational.