Sohbatpur: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday reached the flood-affected Sahabatpur district of Balochistan and directed the authorities to speed up the process of water drainage and infrastructure restoration from the area.
These instructions were issued by the Prime Minister during a briefing after his arrival in the district, where he said that relief and rehabilitation activities should be accelerated.
Moreover, the Prime Minister added that the country has received tents from Turkey which will be distributed to the most flood-affected areas in Balochistan.
The Prime Minister waived the August and September electricity bills of the flood victims.
During his visit, the Prime Minister announced to waive the electricity bills of the flood victims for the months of August and September.
Speaking to the media, the Prime Minister announced that no electricity bill will be charged to the families affected by the calamity for August and September. He also said that the surcharge will also be waived for those who could not pay their August bills on time.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif said that Sahabatpur was severely affected by the flood, communication system, crops, houses and roads were completely destroyed.
He further highlighted that diseases have also spread widely due to flood and he added that the federal government has allocated 70 billion rupees for the victims while 24 billion rupees have been distributed to the flood victims so far.
Besides, the Prime Minister said that he will not tolerate any delay in relief operations for the victims, who are suffering from various diseases due to drinking contaminated water.
Additionally, he announced that the head of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has been directed to collect mineral water from all over Pakistan and distribute it to the victims.
Shahbaz Sharif also called for unity on humanitarian grounds and abandoning political motives. “The relief announcements are not a part of politics but to save the state,” he said, adding that in the next phase, the government would start restoration work on bridges, roads as well as crops destroyed by floods.
On this occasion, Chief Secretary Balochistan Abdul Aziz Aqeeli briefed the Prime Minister regarding the relief and rehabilitation activities.
The chief secretary said that more than 200,000 mosquito nets have been distributed among the flood victims in the area.
He further said that medical camps have also been set up to ensure timely provision of medical facilities to the disaster affected people.
The Prime Minister thanked Turkey for the flood relief.
Prime Minister Shehbaz spoke to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier this week and thanked him and the Turkish people for providing humanitarian aid to Pakistan.
The relief aid from Turkey was in the form of an immediate dispatch of tents, emergency food items and medicine by 12 Turkish military aircraft, four ‘goodness trains’ and two Turkish Red Crescent trucks.
The Prime Minister said that this is the true tradition of ideal relations between Pakistan and Turkey.
