Education University to set up flood relief camps

LAHORE:University of Education (UOE) Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Talat Naseer Pasha has issued instructions to the university officials to immediately set up relief centres in all campuses and divisions of the varsity for relief and assistance of flood victims.

In this regard, with the help of UOE teachers, staff and students relief materials will be collected for the flood victims in shape of medicines, clothes and food items, including rice, ghee, sugar and will be delivered to the victims in a transparent manner.

Prof Dr Talat Naseer Pasha said these were unprecedented times as this year the destruction of rains and floods was more than flood of 2010. Millions of our brethren have come under the open sky, where they desperately need our compassion and help, he added.

The VC said there was a severe shortage of medicines and food items in the affected areas, which was likely to cause more loss of life, so we all should actively participate in this good work. He added said the University of Education, Lahore would use all its resources for this great cause.

Meanwhile, the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Lahore in collaboration with the Punjab government arranged a meeting on “Humanitarian Assistance Campaign for Flood Affected Families in Punjab” on City Campus on Friday.

UVAS Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Nasim Ahmad presided over the meeting and sought suggestion and inputs from UVAS senior faculty members for providing veterinary services, vaccine, animal nutrition and strategy that how to rescue livestock farming community animals from different diseases in flood-affected areas (Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur and Taunsa Sharif) etc.

Addressing the participants of meeting, Prof Dr Nasim Ahmad constituted three committees for fund raising, vaccine collection from allied pharmaceutical industries and for field work in the flood affected areas to provide treatment facilities for livestock farming families to save their animals.

Govt, Opp asked to focus on flood relief operation:Tanzeem-e-Islami ameer Shujauddin Shaikh has criticised the government and opposition for remaining engaged in power politics ignoring the havoc wreaked by the worst flash floods in country’s history killing thousands of people and displacing millions besides destroying cattle, crops and properties worth billions of rupees.

In a statement on Friday, he said the crippling monsoon rains and floods began in July 2022 submerging cities like Karachi and Hyderabad and worst hit were the interior Sindh, Balochistan and South Punjab, marooning nearly half of Pakistan, causing absolute mayhem and devastation. Yet, he said, the government and opposition showed least interest in helping the flood affected people, and disgracefully engaged in power struggle against each other. The PM, CMs of all provinces, political leaderships and bureaucracy have only been doing lip service and badly failed to respond to dying, hungry and homeless people. He said former PM Imran Khan, who claims to be the most popular political leader and champion of human rights, should have postponed all political activities to focus only on rescue and relief operations, he said.

He said PM Shehbaz Sharif should have delayed his foreign visit to attend to the relief work of flood affected people. He demanded the federal and provincial governments to focus on a robust rescue, relief and rehabilitation operation, while all political, religious parties and welfare organisations must provide full assistance to the government machinery. He directed the Tanzeem-e-Islami members to fully participate in relief work, saying the trials and calamities are often a consequence of our transgressions, to serve as warning of our individual and collective aberration. We ought to sincerely repent and seek the forgiveness of Allah for our sins.