PM Shehbaz Sharif visits flood-affected areas of KP

PESHAWAR: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has arrived in the flood-affected Tank District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to review relief and rehabilitation work, ARY News reported on Thursday.

During the visit, Deputy Commission Tank Hamidullah Khan briefed the prime minister on the ongoing relief and rehabilitation work in the area including supply of food, drinking water to the displaced people staying at temporary shelters.

PM Shehbaz Sharif was accompanied by Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman and Advisor to Prime Minister Engineer Amir Muqam.

Speaking on the occasion, the premier said that the collective efforts by federal and provincial governments and departments was inevitable to ensure early rehabilitation of the people affected by flash floods caused by torrential rains.

He also lauded the efforts of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and provincial disaster management authorities for striving to rescue and relief the affected population.

The prime minister urged the KP government to enhance the compensation of existing Rs 0.8 million for the deceased to Rs1 million to bring it at par with that of the provincial government.

“Financial compensation is nothing, comparing the loss of their dear ones, but it will help them live through the challenges of life. This is not competition. This is complimentary. This is our responsibility,” he added.

The premier noted that the federal government had increased the cash assistance for injured people from Rs25,000 to 250,000 and had also announced a similar compensation of Rs0.5 million for both mud and concrete houses damaged completely and Rs 0.2 million for partially hit ones.

Upon being told about the damage to the main roads by flood, the prime minister instructed the National Highway Authority (NHA) to rehabilitate the ones under its jurisdiction.

He said after completing the visits of flood-hit areas, he would mull over the surveys of the NDMA and provincial authorities to assess the damages and decide the possible contribution by the federal government.

During the briefing, the prime minister was told that the floods had damaged around 11,000 households in the district and caused two deaths besides injuring seven others.

He also spoke high for the work by the NHA in Balochistan and in KP for rehabilitation of the flood-ravaged road infrastructure.