PESHAWAR, Aug 19: The NWFP government has enhanced financial allocation under the head of flood relief owing to increasing instances of floods in the different parts of the province, sources told Dawn.
The provincial government had earmarked Rs200,000 for flood relief activities during the 2002-03 financial year. However, in view of the greater requirements, the flood relief wing of the provincial Board of Revenue moved the finance department, asking it to increase the amount from Rs200,000 to Rs2 million, sources said.
However, the sources said, the finance managers of the provincial government increased the amount only to Rs1 million level. The amount has been placed at the disposal of the authorities concerned of the Board of Revenue.
Sources in one of the agencies concerned of the provincial government termed the revised allocation insufficient in view of the increasing instances of floods in different parts of the province.
“The Peshawar city district government alone has requested for Rs1 million grant to carry out relief work in the areas affected by torrential rains and flash floods,” said a senior government official.
Some 300 to 400 houses were damaged and thousands of people were rendered homeless due to the recent spate of torrential rains and over-flowing of water courses on the outskirts of Peshawar. Several villages situated in the limits of five union councils got inundated due to floods, leaving behind tales of human misery and sufferings.
Similarly, several villages situated on both sides of the Pehur and Cheena canals in the Swabi district got inundated after the two water courses developed breaches at different points causing flood in the adjoining areas.
The provincial government has required the district governments of both the Peshawar and the Swabi districts to submit details of damage caused by the recent floods so that the affected areas could be declared calamity-hit — if required.
Official sources said in view of the greater requirement to pay compensation to the flood-affected people, Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah may be moved by the authorities concerned to provide funds from his discretionary grant or enhance the size of the flood relief fund.
“Even the revised allocation for flood relief is not more than peanuts in view of the havoc caused by the floods in the Peshawar and Swabi districts,” the sources said and added that “even the recently made available money would not be enough to meet the expenses to be incurred on extending relief to the flood-affected people in Swabi and Peshawar districts.”
The provincial government, the sources said, distributed about Rs3.7 million among the affected people of the Buner district where flash floods and torrential rains caused devastation at a massive scale during the last financial year.
Similarly, the federal government distributed Rs10 million among the affected people of Dadar village, situated in the northern Mansehra district, where over 110 people were killed by rains last year.