RAWALPINDI, July 22: A large number of flood-affected people of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad are still waiting to get relief even after the passage of exactly one year of the devastating floods in Nullah Leh on July 23 last.
According to official data the Rawalpindi district administration has so far distributed Rs21.06 million among the victims and Rs9.94 million is still unspent with it.
The officials of the district government, when contacted, were found reluctant to give any detail about the relief steps, taken by them during the one year.
According to the official figures, 71 people — 61 in Rawalpindi and 10 in Islamabad — died in the flash floods in Nullah Leh, last year; 1,936 houses, including 841 kutcha houses, were completely damaged and 2,448 houses were partially damaged; 742 cattlehead were also perished. The loss to the infrastructure has been estimated at Rs132.853 million and the damages to the government property at Rs20 million.
The residents of Rawalpindi, however, were the worst affected by the flood in Leh Nullah, which passes through many low-lying thickly-populated areas of the city. Out of the 1,936 houses, which were completely damaged, 1,087 were situated in Rawalpindi. Similarly, out of 2,448 partially damaged houses, 2,228 are in Rawalpindi. The infrastructure loss was also higher in Rawalpindi as compared to the federal capital, which suffered only Rs12.853 million loss, out of Rs132.853 million.
A visit to the flood-affected areas in Rawalpindi after one year exposes tall claims of the district administration regarding relief operation. The victims said they had submitted applications to the district administration, but yet to receive any relief. Some of the people, who had received assistance, were also not happy, saying the grant which they received was insufficient.
According to an official document, the district administration received Rs10 million grant from the federal and Rs21 million from the Punjab government. “The Statement of Disbursement of Funds” shows that legal heirs of 61 persons, who died in the floods, have been paid Rs6.1 million (Rs100,000 per person) and Rs5.14 million have been disbursed among 514 persons, whose houses had been completely damaged.
The statement shows that an amount of Rs1.260 million has been given to army authorities and Rs3.563 million to the local district administration for relief services while Rs5 million was given to district Baitul Maal for disbursement among the affected persons.
On July 23, last year, Islamabad received 620mm and Rawalpindi 170mm of rain in an 8-hour spell, which was a record in a century. The water level in Nullah Leh crossed 28-ft mark, beyond which the flooding cannot be recorded. The July 23 devastations are still fresh in the minds of the residents of Rawalpindi and they were once again alarmed on June 24, this year, when even pre-monsoon rain brought water at Nullah Leh to the danger mark.
The flood-affected persons, who have lost all the hopes of getting relief from the present military government, said in the past, politicians were used to at least visit their constituencies to express sympathies, if they could not provide any relief. They said some councillors and UC Nazmeen though had visited them, but expressed their inability to help them due to lack of money.