KP government draws up flood response plan

PESHAWAR: The provincial government has prepared the “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Flood Response Plan 2022” under which rehabilitation and compensation activities will be carried out phase-wise to restore the damaged infrastructure and compensate the people for the losses caused by recent flash floods in the province.

A handout said Chief Minister Mahmood Khan also approved the establishment of a Climate Resilient Infrastructure Fund which will, in addition to providing financial assistance, will also provide advisory to infrastructure developers.

The decision was taken in a meeting on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Flood Response Plan 2022 chaired by the chief minister.

The meeting was attended by Minister Finance Taimur Saleem Jhagra, Minister for Irrigation Arshad Ayub Khan, Special Assistant to CM on Information Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, Advisor to CM on

Communication and Works Department Riaz Khan, Chief Secretary Shehzad Bangash, administrative secretaries and other senior officials.

The participants of the meeting were briefed about different aspects of the Flood Response Plan, damage caused by floods and steps being taken for infrastructure rehabilitation.

Regarding the Climate Resilient Infrastructure Fund, Mahmood Khan directed the relevant officials to work out modalities and submit formal proposals at the earliest for approval by the competent forum.

The chief minister said despite financial constraints, the provincial government will put in place all efforts and utilize all available resources to ensure the rehabilitation of flood-hit people in the minimum possible time.

He said through the said fund, climate-resilient infrastructure will be constructed which is part of the long-term planning of the KP government for the prevention of natural disasters.

Mahmood Khan directed strict monitoring of rehabilitation-related activities, adding a three-tier setup has been put in place to ensure efficient utilization of funds.

The monitoring and accountability will be carried out at the district, departmental and provincial level by the Monitoring and Evaluation Cell to ensure optimum and effective utilization of resources to meet targets and early outcomes.

The meeting was informed that losses incurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by the flash floods are estimated at Rs120.2 billion including damages of Rs 77.7 billion to the public sector and losses of Rs42.5 billion to the private sector.

As far as sector-wise losses are concerned, losses to the irrigation sector are estimated at Rs 22.3 billion, the roads sector at Rs 19.4 billion, the energy and power sector at Rs 11.5 billion, the elementary and secondary education sector at Rs 8.3 billion, the local government sector at Rs6.7 billion and Rs4.8 billion in the public health engineering sector.

The participants were informed that Rs 245 million will be disbursed among the legal heirs of people who lost their lives in recent floods while Rs 75 million will be disbursed to the people injured in flood-caused incidents.

Similarly, Rs23.7 billion will be spent on the rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged houses. It was also informed that 107,22 acres of agricultural land have been affected, causing an estimated loss of Rs 16 billion.