Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced to waive two months electricity charges of the people living in flood-hit areas. He was talking to media on Wednesday after his visit to the flood ravaged areas of Sohbatpur district in Balochistan. The premier announced that the government would not charge electricity bills for the months of August and September from the people hit by the catastrophic floods in order to facilitate the victims already burdened by the natural calamity. In addition to that, PM Shehbaz also announced continuation of the government’s facility in September to waive off Fuel Adjustment Charges for electricity consumers across the country on usage up to 300 units. He said the facility would be extended beyond the flood-relief areas, benefitting around 210 million consumers in the country. He said that every eye was tearful seeing the large scale destruction in the aftermath of monstrous floods. He said that the entire nation was facing the gigantic challenge of floods unitedly.

He also directed the authorities concerned to ensure the availability of drinking water and life-saving medicines on priority basis in Sohbatpur. He said a mechanism would be established to revive the crops of wheat and cotton in the flood-affected areas. He said two trucks carrying bottled water would reach in the area by tonight while 10 tonnes of the commodity would be available in the next two days. He stated that the coalition government along with the provincial government was making utmost efforts to provide relief to the people in the flood-hit areas. Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz directed the authorities to expedite the relief efforts and expressed his concern over different diseases being spread in the flood-affected areas asking the administration to take measures to control them. During his visit to the flood-hit Sohbatpur district, he was briefed over the ongoing relief efforts to address the challenge of damages in the aftermath of calamitous floods.

He instructed the authorities to not halt their relief work, no matter how much funds they needed for the rehabilitation of the flood affectees. “You have enough funds, if you need more, just let us know. But don’t be sluggish in the relief efforts,” he added. The premier asked the authorities to drain the stagnant floodwater in next 10 days as it was spreading different kinds of water-borne and other communicable diseases among flood victims. “The flood-hit people are becoming prey to numerous ailments and the authorities must act swiftly to avert the spread of water-borne and communicable diseases,” he emphasized. He called for deployment of additional human resources and machinery to amplify work in view of the sufferings faced by the people. PM Shehbaz also announced that the tents donated by Turkiye would be distributed among Balochistan flood affectees. He said that 5 million mosquito nets had already been distributed among the flood victims.

The Balochistan chief secretary briefed the premier that so far 400,000 people were treated in the medical camps. He further informed that 190,000 houses were damaged due to floods in Sohbatpur. It was highlighted that the drainage of water from Sohbatpur and Dera Allah Yar would take 15 and 20 days, respectively. In four days, a 100 feet channel will be made for drinking water. The chief secretary said work on 230 breaches on water canals was underway and the delay in availability of drinking water was due to the closure of inundated roads. He mentioned that fumigation and cleaning of nullahs was in progress, while as a long-term project, a GPS-based flood alert mechanism would be made. Other measures include two mobile maternity units, availability of life-saving and anti-venom medicines, and the arrangement of over two million mosquito nets. During his visit, the prime minister reviewed the relief arrangements and also interacted with the flood victims.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP