PESHAWAR: Awami National Party president for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Senator Aimal Wali Khan on Monday expressed grief and sorrow over the loss of lives and damage to public life in the ongoing heavy rains in the province and urged the government to immediately provide relief goods to the calamity-hit families.

In a statement, Mr Aimal said that his party’s leadership and workers sympathised with families, which lost members to the downpour in the province, and stood with them in “this hour of grief and suffering.”

He said that authorities should reach out to the victims of downpour without delay with all possible assistance.

The ANP leader also called for immediate steps by the government to evacuate the people from “unsafe” areas.

He said that the “irreparable” damage caused by torrential rains to public property and crops would have a very negative impact on people’s lives.

Mr Aimal said while the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was already ravaged by unrest and mismanagement, the poor residents suffered more from natural calamities in the form of rains.

“It is the duty of the provincial government to provide relief to the calamity-affected families on an emergency basis to alleviate their sufferings. Officials of the relevant departments should ensure the timely access of the people in need to the relief,” he said.

The ANP leader said that his party’s office-bearers and workers along with volunteers of the Khudai Khidmatgar organisation would ensure the relief of the rain-hit people facing a difficult time.

Meanwhile, the ANP’s Provincial Council in Sindh will meet in Karachi today (Tuesday) to elect its new office-bearers.

The meeting will be held at the Bacha Khan Centre at 10am with head of the central election commission Mian Iftikhar Hussain in the chair, according to another statement issued by the ANP.

Chairman of the provincial election commission in Sindh Zakir Hanif and other members will also participate in the meeting.

Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2024