LAHORE: A meeting of the Ministerial Committee for Disaster Management, with Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Chairman of the Committee Muhammad Basharat Raja in the chair, reviewed relief and rehabilitation measures being taken and issued necessary directions to the authorities concerned.
On the instructions of Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi, relief activities have been started from Saturday in the flood-affected areas by helicopters. For the purpose, two helicopters have already been handed over to the administration and the PDMA Punjab by the provincial government, the meeting was told.
Provincial ministers Sardar Mohsin Leghari and Raja Mansoor Ali Khan, chief secretary, IG Police Punjab, additional chief secretary (ACS) Home, Special Member Board of Revenue (SMBR), secretaries and commissioner Dera Ghazi Khan attended the meeting. Chief Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal and SMBR Zahid Akhtar Zaman briefed the meeting regarding their recent visits to flood affected areas.
Chairman Committee Muhammad Basharat Raja expressed satisfaction that all departments and institutions were busy in the flood affected areas; however, he emphasised the need to make the activities more coordinated.
“Although rescue work in the flood affected areas has been completed, there is still a risk of flooding in the Indus River, so the authorities concerned should remain on alert,” he said.
He said that the focus of the government is now on relief and rehabilitation work. “So far 30,000 tents have been provided in flood affected areas. The district administrations of Rajanpur, Dera Ghazi Khan and Mianwali have been provided funds for disbursement among affectees,” the minister added.
The committee decided to arrange regular briefing to the media on the relief measures taken by the Punjab government and directed Information Secretary Raja Mansoor Ahmed to arrange a visit of the media team to the affected areas.
Minister Raja Basharat directed the PDMA and Commissioner DG Khan to ensure that there is no shortage of food and drinking water in any flood-affected place. He said that fodder had also been arranged for cattle in the affected areas.
The chief secretary said that trucks of relief goods from different districts were continuously reaching the affected areas. If there are no more rains, the situation will improve in a few days, he concluded.
