Three-hour-long telethon: Imran Khan raises Rs500 crore for flood victims

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former premier Imran Khan on Monday held an international telethon to raise funds from within the country and overseas Pakistanis for the flood victims.

According to Senator Faisal Javed Khan, who moderated the event, the former prime minister collected over Rs5 billion in donations in 3 hours long flood telethon. Chief ministers of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa — Pervaiz Elahi and Mahmood Khan — former premier’s ex-assistant on social protection Sania Nishtar, celebrities, and other politicians joined Imran Khan’s telethon.

Speaking during Live Telethon which was telecast by a number of TV channels, the PTI chief said entire Pakistan had been affected by the floods generated by back-to-back monsoon rains. He said more than 1,000 people have died due to devastating floods and the damages are expected to cross Rs1,000 billion.

He said that the country would have to construct more dams to save people from such devastation in future. “The sole solution to prevent the catastrophes caused by flood is to construct dams.”

The PTI chairman said that he is struggling for real independence besides assisting the flood victims across the country. British-Pakistani boxer Amir Khan also joined the telethon and announced Rs5 million for flood victims. Prime Minister Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan, who attended PTI’s live telethon transmission, announced Rs30 million for flood affectees.