LAHORE, May 22: The Punjab government reviewed on Wednesday civil defence arrangements in view of the war threats by India and constituted a provincial coordination committee for overall defence planning.

The arrangements were reviewed at a meeting presided over by Governor Khalid Maqbool who constituted the committee with the chief secretary at its head.

The governor also constituted four sub-committees on internal security, logistics support, provincial survey and strategic affairs.

He directed the immediate constitution of crises management committees of civil defence at town and tehsil level so as to convey sensitive information to the people released from the central warning operation system at Rawalpindi and Sargodha.

These committees will also motivate people to adopt safety measures aimed at enhancing the capacity of society to brave any unavoidable circumstances in close coordination with the army authorities concerned.

The governor directed to retest the warning system through mock exercises and conduct rehearsals of extinguishing fire at busy public places, removal of debris and giving first aid to the injured people.

He said there should be no information gap between the civil defence personnel and the people, directing the authorities concerned to guide the people through media regarding the self-defence in case of an attack by the enemy.

He asked all administrative departments to strengthen the essential services plan and regularly monitor the activities of suspected anti-nationals so that the combined control and report centres could be apprised of the updated information about them.

He directed to adopt effective measures to prevent unnecessary hoarding of daily use items, warning that any such practice especially by grain dealers would not be tolerated.

The governor said the provincial government had 3.3 million metric tons of wheat and 1.2 million metric tons of sugar in its stocks which were enough for more than a year.

Similarly, he said, raw material had also been supplied for the emergency repair of all roads in the province so that communication links could remain in tact at any cost.

The meeting was informed that the provincial government had finalized contingency plan for standby precautionary measures.

It was stated that 25,000 trained volunteers had been detailed at various warden posts at district level while services of millions of boy scouts and girls guide would also be available to assist the provision of first-aid facilities.

The meeting was told that 10,846 qualified doctors would remain available at major hospitals in the province to meet any eventuality. In these hospitals 9,904 beds had been reserved for any emergency situation.

It was stated that 67 blood transfusion units would remain available in government hospitals whereas in addition to the 750 mobile first aid units, 405 first aid dispensaries were being established at different places in the province.

The meeting was also told that the Punjab Goods Transport Association had offered to hand over 1,712 private trucks to the armed forces.

Earlier, the governor appealed to, what he said, the defeated politicians in the ARD to refrain from creating hurdles in the way of President Gen Musharraf’s efforts to evolve a national consensus at this hour of trial. He urged them to take part in the consultation process for making an effective strategy against the enemy in the best national interests.

He said the government did not want to create a war hysteria among the people but Pakistan’s cunning enemy must know that every member of Pakistani nation was ready to offer his life for the protection of his country.

The governor said every member of the nation had the courage to live in honour, and aspired martyrdom. Before imposing war on Pakistan the enemy must know that “we would not compromise on the protection of our national interests despite an urge for peace and reconciliation.”

He said the enemy would find the entire nation ready to meet any eventuality if any mistake of attacking Pakistan was committed.

He said four wars had been imposed on Pakistan since its creation but the people still had the spirit to protect it as they had done during wars in 1948 and 1965.