Pakistan vows to bring back 'normalcy' after cataclysmic floods kill over 1,200

 Islamabad: Pakistan on Saturday pledged to restore "normalcy" and provide relief to victims after floods killed more than 1,200 people and destroyed millions of homes.

At a press conference with military officials at the National Flood Response and Coordination Centre, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal urged the international community to support Pakistan and that the government supported by its officials was "irreversible". I won't do anything I do. I haven't", he assured the audience. Let's get back to normal as soon as possible. The Planning Minister also asked the international community not to waver in its commitment to support Pakistan as the scale of the disaster required a large-scale humanitarian response.

According to National Disaster Management Administration (NDMA) statistics, as of September 3, 1,265 people died, 12,577 people were injured, 735,584 animals and 1,427,039 houses were damaged. As a result of IDPs, more than 500,000 people are now living in relief camps in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Punjab.

Iqbal told a press conference that Pakistan is facing one of the worst disasters caused by climate change and is not responsible. Pakistan is the seventh most vulnerable to climate disasters as it produces only 1% of its carbon footprint. He added that more than 500 percent of normal rainfall caused massive flooding across the country and more than one million homes were flooded.

According to the minister, about 5,000 km of roads have been damaged and the situation is worst in Balochistan. He said that about 10 days ago, 14 major highways connecting Balochistan with other countries and important for economy were closed due to severe floods.

He added, "The highest authority of our country, the Army Engineers and the Civil Administration, has cleared 11 major highways," adding that work to clear the remaining three roads is ongoing. The Planning Minister said authorities and agencies are working to restore connectivity across the country despite the intensity of the disaster.

According to Iqbal, 81 power plants have been shut down in the last 15 days, but 69 will be restored after accelerated work and 12 will start functioning soon, restoring power to various parts of the country. According to the federal minister, 881 power supplies were affected in some way, resulting in a power outage. Of these, 758 are active, and 123 are subsequently restored. Eight transmission lines were cut causing power outage especially in Balochistan, six have been restored and the rest will be restored soon.

communication error
The Planning Minister said 3,500 telecommunications towers were damaged and communications were lost. In the flooded area, he said, service was disrupted for several days in the early stages of the flood, disrupting rescue operations.

"Right now, only 600 are not working, the rest are fully functional."

He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has instructed the authorities to repair the remaining 2,900 telecom towers in the next 48 hours. The planning minister said that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTCL) is working with relevant companies to ensure that the telecommunications network can be restored as quickly as possible.

military rescue operation
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director Babar Iftikhar briefed the media about the Army's rescue and relief operations and paid tribute to Corps Commander Balochistan Lt Gen Sarfraz Ali and others who lost their lives in the helicopter crash . debt. People are waiting for the flood. He reaffirmed his commitment to provide comprehensive relief to the victims at the corps commanders' meetings in July and August, he added, adding that Chief of Army Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa had issued specific guidelines in this regard.

"The Chief of Military Staff visited the flood-affected area and supervised the rescue operation," a military official said. "The army has set up 147 relief camps across the country to help the flood victims," ​​added Baba Iftikar. According to him, 50,000 people were helped in the camp. The Pakistan Air Force rescued more than 1,521 people stranded in the flood, a military spokesman said.

An Army spokesman appealed to the public and philanthropists for donations for flood victims and said 284 flood collection points have been set up across the country. change in the monsoon pattern
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) chairman Lieutenant General Akhtar Nawaz said the monsoon rains had started about three weeks earlier than expected and were "unprecedented".

The NDMA president said that heavy rains are expected but the rain is exponentially higher than expected, causing severe flooding across the country. The rain which was supposed to fall on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir and northern regions deviated from the existing route and passed through Balochistan, South KP, DG Khan and Rajanpur and eastern Sindh regions of Punjab.

"It rained very heavily in Sindh, making it an unprecedented situation," he said.

 

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