4
ISLAMABAD / QUETTA: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday gave a ‘new deadline’ to the authorities to pay Rs50,000 compensation to each family affected by floods, after his previous three-day deadline failed to initiate the transfer of money.
In a meeting to review the damage caused by flash floods, the prime minister directed the authorities to provide cash assistance through electronic transfer to ensure that the beneficiaries get their due compensation.
He also directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to carry out relief and rehabilitation activities in the flood-hit areas of southern Sindh.
He emphasised on immediate supply of food, medicines and clean water to the victims besides ensuring their accommodation.
13, including women and minors, killed in Sindh; Balochistan completely cut off from other provinces; several DG Khan areas under water
The prime minister also directed the provincial and federal agencies to conduct a joint survey for damage assessment, which should be completed in three weeks.
The meeting was further informed that the federal government was in contact with international donors and other welfare organisations.
The Asian Development Bank and the World Bank have pledged funds for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of flood-hit areas under the Emergency Disaster Relief Fund.
13 die in Sindh
A couple, their four minor children and the driver of the taxi they were travelling in drowned in flooded Malir River in Karachi’s Memon Goth area. The bodies of two two siblings were fished out, while the search was underway for the remaining members.
In another incident, a young mother drowned in Gadap Town while saving her two minor children during heavy flooding late on Thursday night.
Separately, three more people drowned while four were electrocuted in other rain-related accidents in the city.
In other areas of Sindh, more than a 100 mud houses caved in, resulting in injuries to 20 people in Larkana.
Moreover, continuous rainfall has caused flooding in several areas of Hyderabad, Dadu, Jamshoro, Larkana, Sanghar, Badin, Mirpurkhas and Umerkot districts.
Balochistan’s land links severed
Four more deaths were reported across Balochistan as incessant rain and flash floods has further deteriorated the situation in areas that were already reeling from the devastations of monsoon rains.
The total death toll in the province has touched, according to official figures.
The province’s land connections with the entire country were effectively cut off after heavy land sliding, triggered by continuous downpour, blocked Zhob-Dera Ismail Khan and Loralai-Fort Munro highways — roads connecting Balochistan to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Quetta-Karachi and Quetta-Sukkur highways were already closed while the railway service was already suspended for the past four days.
Official sources said that mountainous areas in Sherani district and Fort Munro received downpour throughout the night.
A truck driver was seriously injured when a boulder hit the truck at Fort Munro Pass, the sources added.
Several passenger coaches and other vehicles were stranded on the two highways at different points and leading to long queues of vehicles on both sides of the highways.
Sherani Deputy Commissioner Ijaz Ahmed Jaffar said that after heavy landsliding at Zhob-Dera Ismail Khan Highway, the security forces stopped all kinds of traffic near Danasar.
In Nasirabad, over 25 villages are completely submerged and hundreds of mud houses have been damaged or destroyed, according to the local administration officials.
“Dera Murad Jamali was saved from massive destruction as flood in Lehri River was turned towards an abandoned area,” Nasirabad Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Hussain said.
He added that the Rabi canal was breached at six points and the authorities have fortified the protection dyke around Dera Murad Jamali and the movement of flood water was constantly being monitored.
DG Khan
Three mega flash floods generated by hill torrents in Sulaiman Range over the last four weeks have eliminated hundreds of human settlements and killed more than a dozen people in Rajanpur and Dera Ghazi Khan.
Due to breach in protection dykes of Thatta-Leghari Canal, Kallarwala, Retara, Jatwala, Tibi Qaisrani, Banbhan Dona, Qaziwala, Damra, Jarh, Bhattawala and dozens of small settlements in Dera Ghazi Khan came under water.
APP adds: Pakistan Army troops continued rescue and relief efforts on Thursday in various flood-hit areas of Balochistan and Punjab, and shifted the affected population to safer places.
According to the Inter-services Public Relations (ISPR), the troops were carrying out relief activities in Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Naseerabad and Lasbela. The army’s medical teams were also providing healthcare to affected people.
Imtiaz Ali in Karachi and Tariq Saeed Birmani in Dera Ghazi Khan also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2022
