Encroachments on water courses main cause of floods: CM

PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has termed encroachments on water courses as main cause of the floods and announced that the operation to remove illegal structures in the province would continue without any discrimination.
He announced to remove all encroachments from Budhni nullah within three days and promised a strict legislation to punish encroachers in future. He said that those who encroached upon the state land and suffered losses due to the floods would not be compensated.
The chief minister was talking to media at Budhni Bridge during his visit to flood-hit areas of Peshawar Monday, said an official handout. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ministers, Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani and Mian Jamsheduddin, Advisor to the chief minister Ishtiaq Urmar, Special Assistant, Fazal Ilahi, MPAs, Mahmood Jan and Arbab Jahandad, Deputy Commissioner, Riaz Mahsud, Additional Deputy Commissioner Usama Ahamd Waraich also accompanied the chief minister. Pervez Khattak said that the provincial government had already issued notices to the illegal occupants of Budhni nullah and certain other areas but they failed to remove encroachments voluntarily.
“The deadline expired today (Monday) and an operation will be launched to retrieve the encroached land. A strategy would be finalized at a meeting to be held on Tuesday,” he added. The chief minister said that people had built houses over nullahs which disturbed the smooth flow of flood water and diverted the floodwater to populated areas. He said that the government was preparing a map of nullahs and government lands to identify and restore them in original condition.
Pervez Khattak warned that those who had made constructions over nullahs will not be compensated for any loss.Talking about the Chitral flood, the chief minister said that the provincial government in collaboration with Pakistan Army was working for the rehabilitation of flood-hit areas of Chitral. He said the federal government had also made commitments to contribute for this purpose.
Pervez Khattak said that the provincial government was distributing relief goods in the flood-affected areas through the army. He said that reconstruction work for restoring the major damaged roads of Chitral had handed over to FWO for an early completion.
Later, Pervez Khattak visited the flood affected areas of Charsada Road, Warsak Road, Kafoor Dheri, Mathra, Nasir Bagh and Regi.ANP chief asks party workers to help flood victims: Awami National Party (ANP) chief Asfandyar Wali Khan has expressed shock and concern over the devastation caused by the recent floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and directed the party workers and leaders to come forward for the relief and rehabilitation of the affected people.
In a press statement on Monday, he called upon the provincial government to focus all its attention on providing relief to the affected people. The ANP chief said the recent floods inflicted huge losses on life and properties. Several people have been killed and standing crops and orchards on thousands of acres of land have been damaged, he added.