Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar has expressed government’s determination to further accelerate the rescue and relief efforts in flood-hit areas.
He was briefing the media persons along with Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry and Chairman National Disaster Management Authority Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik in Islamabad today.
Attaullah Tarar said the government is dealing this national emergency under a national response and all relevant departments including Armed Forces of Pakistan are working in complete unison in this regard.
The Minister informed that so far twenty-five thousand people, affected due to floods caused by torrential rains, have been rescued to safer places.
He said seventy percent of the electricity system, damaged severely due to flash flooding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has been restored and Minister for Power Sardar Awais Ahmed Leghari is personally in the field to supervise the restoration work.
Attaullah Tarar said the electricity supply to main hospitals in the affected areas is being ensured.
He said the urban flooding inflicted huge human loss and severely damaged property in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan.
Attaullah Tarar said as per the directives of the Prime Minister, the relevant ministers are in the affected areas and supervising the rescue and relief operations.
Giving an overview of the relief activities, Chairman National Disaster Management Authority Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik said bodies of many missing people, trapped under the rubble, have been retrieved.
He said the Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir is personally focusing on the rescue and relief activities. He said the NDMA has already dispatched two relief convoys carrying relief goods to Swabi, Buner, Malakand and Buner, while another convoy will leave for Shangla today.
The Chairman NDMA said Pak Army teams along with Rescue 1122 and other relevant departments are active and providing relief to the flood victims. He said number of NGOs and welfare organizations have also contributed in the relief activities.
Speaking on the occasion, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said as the Monsoon started wreaking havoc, all the units of Pakistan Army were mobilized under the special instructions of the Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir.
He emphasized that relief and rehabilitation efforts are underway with additional personnel deployed to support the relief activities. He said eight units of infantry and FC are in the field to help the victims.
The DG ISPR said two Engineering Battalions, one each in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan, have been deployed to restore damaged roads and bridges. So far, multiple bridges have been repaired.
He said army aviation has also been mobilized to airlift people stranded in the affected areas and distributed cooked meal and ration among the flood affected people.
He said Pakistan Army rescue teams have successfully evacuated more than six thousand people and provided medical treatment to 6,304 patients in flood-affected areas.
Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said a total of 585 tonnes of ration have been allocated for flood-hit populations, from Army reserves, as directed by the Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir.
He said in Buner, Swat and Shangla, two battalions each have been deployed, while Frontier Corps wings are active in Bajaur and a company in Swabi.
The DG ISPR said relief logistics are bolstered as 2,500 tonnes of ready-to-eat ration stock is available. He said with an additional 5,000 tonnes stocks are available at the Nowshera base for immediate deployment.
Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said infrastructure restoration is also underway. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 90 roads were damaged. Nine roads have been fully restored and partial repairs have been completed at eighty-six locations. Forty percent restoration work on main bridge linking Timergara and Bajaur has been completed.
The Karakoram Highway, blocked at eight points, has been fully cleared now. Restoration work continues at Astore bridges and along the Jaglot-Skardu Road.
The DG ISPR said in Gilgit-Baltistan, the Engineering Brigade has repaired multiple bridges and is working to reopen roads in Shangla and Buner.
He informed that the Signals Unit, in coordination with Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation Limited, has restored 16 BTS towers to support emergency communications.
He said three Army medical units are operating nine medical camps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, where they have provided treatment to over six thousand three hundred patients.
He said urban search and rescue teams are active in Buner, supported by two medical battalions.
Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said medical teams from Combined Military Hospital and Military Hospital have also been deployed to provide continuous care in Buner, Shangla, and Swat. He said one Engineering Brigade is currently present at Kanju, Swat to assist the relief work.
