CM Balochistan reviews rain, flood situation as CPEC road damaged

QUETTA: Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal on Saturday chaired a meeting to review rain and flood situation in the province amid damage to M-8 motorway, which is part of the CPEC route, ARY NEWS reported.

Director General (DG) Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Balochistan briefed the meeting over the losses and relief measures carried out in the province.

“21 districts of the Balochistan province are hit by the rainfall while Dera Bugti, Jhal Magsi, Kohlu, and Sibi remained affected from flood situation,” the PDMA head briefed.

The chief minister directed the authorities to ensure coordinated efforts to improve the situation and further ordered to vacate the population from sensitive locations to safer designations.

“The required machinery should be ready to deal with the situation,” Jam Kamal said and further directed the irrigation department and district administrations to ensure round the clock supervision of the dams and water channels respectively.

Separately, the Director PDMA Makran Circle said that the M-8 motorway road, which is part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), was damaged at the location of the Tejaban area due to flood water.

“We have begun process to restore the road infrastructure at Coastal Highway and M-8 motorway,” he said adding that the PDMA and district administration remained alert in the area to deal with the flooding situation.

It is pertinent to mention here that PDMA Balochistan earlier in the day cautioned about heavy rainfall in seven districts of the province in the next three days.

The PDMA Balochistan has advised the local authorities to take precautionary measures to tackle the situation in Kalat, Khuzdar, Naseerabad, Lasbela, Jaffarabad, Sohbatpur and Jhal Magsi districts.

The authority has imposed a ban on fishermen’s venturing into the deep sea, the official said.