Flood-hit families to be resettled soon: Basharat

LAHORE:Chairman Ministerial Disaster Management Committee, Provincial Minister for Cooperatives, Environmental Protection and Parliamentary Affairs Basharat Raja has assured that every flood-affected family will be resettled in their homes soon.

He said the reconstruction work of the houses will start as soon as the water recedes and the Punjab govt will leave no stone unturned to provide sufficient financial resources for affected people. He was addressing a press conference at DGPR here on Thursday.

Basharat Raja told the media persons that Chief Minister Punjab Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi himself is supervising all the relief activities. “Flood-affected areas have already been declared calamity-hit. At present, the relief work is in the final stages, then the most crucial phase of rehabilitation will begin”, he further told the media.

Basharat said that the Chief Minister has approved a relief package for the affected people. “Compensation of Rs one million will be given to the next of kin of each deceased person. In the past, aid was not given for the construction of kacha houses, but this time the government will also provide aid for the reconstruction of kacha houses” he announced. Chairman high powered ministerial committee told that 184 relief camps were established in the affected areas. A total of 33,478 tents, 4,400 bags of flour, 68,637 food hampers, more than 3,000 pots and thousands of water bottles have been distributed in 3 tehsils of Rajanpur, 4 tehsils of DG Khan and one tehsil of Mianwali. He said that Rs100 million have been released immediately to Deputy Commissioner DG Khan, 80 million to DC Rajanpur and 65 million to Deputy Commissioner Mianwali. “Any additional funds required will also be provided” he vowed.

Basharat said that as usual overseas Pakistanis are leading in helping their brothers facing difficult times. “During the telethon held a few days ago, on the call of former prime minister Imran Khan, crores of donations were collected in a few hours”, he said. He said that along with the government, welfare organisations are also actively involved in helping their affected brothers and sisters. “This is a national tragedy. The victims will not be left alone. We salute their courage and passion. We will come out of this difficult time in a better way”, he pledged.

The minister said that Punjab received a total of 364 mm of rain this year, which was 85 percent more than normal. “Although pre-monsoon flood warnings and all necessary preparations were made by the departments concerned, however preparations did not prove to be effective against the unprecedented heavy rains”, regretted the minister. He said that 188 deaths occurred as a result of rains and floods in the entire province.