ISLAMABAD: The PDM meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, COAS decided to form a National Flood Response and Coordination Centre to provide proper institutional response to the calamity, which will comprise federal ministers, representatives of armed forces, chief ministers and experts.
The meeting was also attended by the top civil and military brass, including the three services chiefs, the chief ministers of Balochistan and Sindh through video link, leaders of allied parties, federal ministers and senior officials from Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
It was also decided that all illegal constructions on the banks of rivers and other water courses would be removed.
After the meeting, in a series of tweets, the PM Office said: “The Centre will serve as a bridge between disaster management authorities, donors and government institutions. It will collect and analyse latest information and pass it on to the relevant government agencies. It will also oversee rescue and relief work including restoration of infrastructure.”
Earlier, during a visit to the flood-hit areas of Charsadda and Nowshera in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, PM Shehbaz announced Rs25,000 for every family hit by the calamity, saying the funds would be disbursed by September 3.
The prime minister also visited relief camps set up at the Abdul Wali Khan sports complex and at the Agra union council in Charsadda and met with the affected families.
The PM told reporters that the families of flood victims would be provided with Rs1 million.
QWP chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao and JUI (F) district emir Maulana Gohar Shah also briefed the prime minister on the reconstruction of Munda headworks and efforts to rehabilitate the flood affected population.
The devastation from flooding caused by hill torrents and rains is continuing in Balochistan hampering rescue and relief operation and efforts to restore connectivity with other provinces and creating fear of food shortage, while more deaths are being reported from different areas of the province.
During an interaction with journalists on Monday, Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudus Bizenjo revealed that the province suffered over Rs200 billion in financial losses due to rain and flood related damages over the past couple of months. In the past, he said, destruction from natural disasters was limited to certain areas, but this flood had affected all 34 districts.
He said that a survey was being conducted in all the affected districts and the losses may be well over Rs200bn when the final report is presented.
He said that due to a lack of connectivity, the province could face acute food shortages and said that he had suggested to the prime minister that food and other items should be airlifted to the province.