RAWALPINDI: The Punjab government has asked the City District Government Rawalpindi (CDGR) to pay Rs20 million compensation to flood victims in the district from its own funds, assuring that it will be reimbursed next month.

A senior CDGR official told Dawn that, despite giving funds for the compensation, the provincial government asked the local government to use its own funds for this purpose.

He said the CDGR would have to stop development schemes in the province to utilise the money to compensate flood victims.

He said, according to rules, the provincial government sends additional funds.

The official said the local government had so far provided cheques to four victim families. Punjab Labour Minister Raja Ashfaq Sarwar was assigned the duty of distributing cheques from Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan’s constituency.

Meanwhile, Raja Ashfaq Sarwar distributed cheques to family members of flood victims in surroundings of Soan River in Rawalpindi and Chauntra area.

He handed over a cheque amounting to Rs1.6 million to the father of Mohammad Bilal, who passed away as a result of a house collapse on the bank of Soan River.

He visited the villages located in Chauntra area and handed over another cheque amounting to Rs1.6 million to the brother of deceased, Mohammad Tanveer, who become a victim of over-flooded Soan River.

The minister also handed over cheque of the same amount to Gul Khan, husband of Azra Bibi, who died after her house collapsed in Chauntra.

He also visited Gujar Khan and adjoining town, Jhongal, to give compensation money to the mother of Muhammad Shakeel, who died along with his wife, in a roof collapse incident.

Published in Dawn, September 11th , 2014