Member of Punjab Assembly from Rajanpur Shazia Abid says flood situation in District Rajanpur is worse as more water is being added to the existing stranded waters.

Talking to Radio Pakistan’s News and Current Affairs Channel on Thursday, she said that Pakistan People’s Party is doing its best to provide relief to the flood-hit people.

She said that the Suleman Range belt has been totally cut off due to flood waters, therefore relief and rescue teams could not reach there. She said that the Punjab government is not focusing on relief activities as the functionaries are busy in doing politics amid the human catastrophe.

Talking in the programme, Director General PDMA Sindh Syed Salman Shah said that the widespread floods have caused devastation in vast areas of Sindh which is hampering the relief efforts.

He said that PDMA has provided shelter to 90,000 people, but it is just a ten percent of the entire displaced people in the province. He said that the scale of devastation could be gauged due to the fact that the Sindh government had to declare 23 districts of Sindh as calamity-hit. He said, so far, the exact scale of damage has not been estimated due to the ongoing rains.

He said according to the initial estimates, 3.4 million people have been affected by the floods in Sindh out of which 200,000 people are in relief camps. He said that almost 1.5 million people have been displaced in the province.

Salman Shah said that the government buildings are in dilapidated condition, therefore the IDPs cannot be shifted in those buildings. The Director General said although, we do not have dearth of funds, but arrangements of relief goods and other equipment is difficult.  He said that helicopters of Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy are also on disposal of PDMA, but still there is no need for the helicopters as boats are being used to transport people. 

Talking in the programme, Akhtar Ali Jamali, Deputy Director Rescue PDMA Balochistan, said that almost all the districts in the province have been affected by the floods.  He said that PDMA rescue teams are working in Naseerabad district, Sohbatpur and Naseerabad; whereas another team has been dispatched to Jhal Magsi where people are trapped in the floodwaters. He said that more than 1800 people have been rescued in these four districts as well as relief goods have also been dispatched to the flood-hit areas. 

Director Rescue PDMA Balochistan said that hundred percent people have not been rescued as the situation is worsening day by day due to the ongoing rains. 

He said that PDMA has allocated 10 million rupees to every Commissioner and five million rupees to every Deputy Commissioner for procurement of relief goods for the flood-hot areas.