Emergency declared in Malakand Division, Abbottabad ATH

MINGORA/ABBOTTABAD: Malakand Division Commissioner Zaheerul Islam on Wednesday declared an emergency in all seven districts of the division, including Bajaur due to the prevailing situation between Pakistan and India.

The commissioner issued the directive to cancel the leaves of all employees within the division. He asked the heads of the facilities working under the Health Department to ensure all emergency services in the hospitals. Swat Deputy Commissioner Syed Saqib Raza also chaired a meeting in his office about the situation.

Heads of various departments, including health, education and police, attended the meeting. He issued directives and cancelled leaves of all the employees within the district. Meanwhile civil society and traders federations announced to stage demonstrations and rallies in various parts of the district against Indian aggression and in support of the armed forces.

A programme will be arranged at the Swat Press Club in Mingora today to express solidarity with the armed forces. Meanwhile, on the directive of Health Department, Ayub Teaching Hospital (ATH) declared a state of emergency and high alert in the hospitals from Wednesday till further orders.

The decision was made by the hospital management committee meeting due to the prevailing security situation in the country. A disaster management plan was evolved to tackle emergencies and a committee formed in this regard.

Hospital Director Dr Umar Farooq and Medical Director Dr Ahsan Aurangzeb directed the committee to make special arrangements to deal with any situation. Special wards were being established, extra beds, medicines, surgical disposal, stretcher trolleys, and wheelchairs being arranged. Directives were issued to the blood bank to increase the storage capacity of blood and the collection of blood from different sources. The administration canceled the leave of its employees.