Allied Govt Establishes National Flood Response Center For Rehabilitation Of Flood Affectees

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Aug, 2022 ) :The allied parties in the government on Monday after mutual consultation decided to establish a National Flood Response and Coordination Center to tackle the situation of floods in the country and undertake restoration of the flood affectees.

The announcement to establish the center was made in a statement issued after the meeting of the allied parties chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The Chairman of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) briefed the meeting in detail about the situation of floods in the country and rescue and relief activities.

During the meeting, the situation arising out of the devastating floods in the country was reviewed in detail.

In the meeting, Fateha was offered for those who lost their lives in the floods and prayers were offered for the early recovery of the injured and grief and sorrow was expressed for the families of the victims.

The meeting noted that the damage caused by the floods due to rains across the country particularly in the provinces of Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, South Punjab and Gilgit Baltistan was unprecedented in the last 60 years.

The participants appreciated the untiring efforts made under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for the rescue of flood affectees, for undertaking emergency steps for relief, regular visits of the flood affected areas and for uninterrupted assistance to the victims.

They also lauded the Federal government for its immediate relief to the flood victims, release of Rs five billion to NDMA, Rs 15 billion to Sindh province, special grant of Rs 10 billion to Balochistan province and payment of Rs one million to the family of every deceased and grant of money to the injured and for damages to the houses and for other losses.

The meeting emphatically applauded the decision of the Prime Minister to give immediate assistance of Rs 25000 in cash to every person affected by the floods.

The meeting paid tribute to the federal and provincial governments, federal and provincial departments, army, navy, air force and every person involved in extending emergency assistance and succor to the afflicted countrymen and saluted all of them for their national passion to extend round the clock help to the people stranded in floods.

They thanked the international partners, world community, the United Nations, development agencies and especially friendly countries for their help in tackling the natural disaster and expressed the hope that they would fully extend additional help in the assistance and restoration of the flood affectees.

They expressed complete solidarity with the flood affectees and also conveyed determination that the coalition government would not let up till the rehabilitation of the flood affected brothers, sisters, and children in their homes, would not leave alone the citizens in distress and would utilize all available resources for bringing normalcy in their lives.

During the meeting, it was proposed that keeping in view the largescale devastation caused by floods, a national level comprehensive plan should be formulated for reconstruction.

It was decided that the federal government would complete the final assessment of the losses in a transparent manner in consultation with the provincial governments and institutions and effective plans would be made for the restoration of the affectees within a given timeframe.

The participants endorsed the proposal to prepare a comprehensive strategy for future by learning lessons from the threat of the climate change and present conditions, so that all efforts could be made for ensuring preemptive preparation against a natural disaster.

It was decided to take necessary measures to enhance the capability and capacity of the administrative machinery for eradicating the illegal constructions on the rivers and waterways. Steps should also be taken for storage of the flood water.

The meeting supported the decision of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to set up the Prime Minister Relief Fund 2022 and agreed with the decision to launch an extensive campaign to collect funds inside the country and from abroad.

In this connection, a campaign would be run at the government, party and individual levels so that the task of rehabilitation of the flood affectees could be accomplished with the cooperation of philanthropists, institutions, international partners and friendly countries.

The federal ministers, chiefs of armed forces, Chief Minister Balochistan, provincial chief secretaries and high-level officials attended the meeting.