ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday promised relief without delay to those affected by Pakistan’s monsoon rains, as the death toll from rain-related incidents in the country climbed to 354.
Monsoon rains in Pakistan have claimed 354 lives and injured 407 people since mid-June, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) confirmed on Wednesday, with the most casualties taking place in the country’s impoverished southwestern Balochistan province.
Torrential rains triggered flash floods in Sindh’s Jamshoro, Karachi and Gharo area as well as in Lasbela, Turbat and Quetta districts of southwestern Balochistan province on Tuesday, where several roads, bridges and houses have been destroyed since the beginning of the monsoon season last month, according to officials and residents.
The Pakistan military said on Tuesday it had joined civil administrations in Sindh and Balochistan to rescue people from flash floods triggered by the fresh spell of monsoon rain.
Addressing the National Assembly, PM Sharif said the government would enhance the relief package for those affected by the rains and relatives of those who had been killed in rain-related incidents.
Sharif said he had called a meeting of federal ministers, government officials and legislators on Thursday where further decisions related to relief measures would be taken.
“It is our duty to provide those households [victims of rain-related incidents] the utmost relief and we will not delay it,” he said.
The NDMA confirmed that Balochistan reported the highest number of deaths, 105, while 68 lost their lives in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 76 have been killed in Punjab, 90 died in in Sindh while eight were killed by rains in Gilgit-Baltistan, six in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and one in Islamabad.
According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Balochistan, 105 people have been killed in the province since June 1, with 6,068 houses, 565 kilometers of roads, and nine bridges destroyed. Rains have also affected 712 livestock and 197,930 acres of agricultural land, PDMA Balochistan said.
An important highway connecting the megacity of Karachi to Balochistan’s provincial capital Quetta remained closed for the third day due to floods in many areas of Lasbela district and damage caused to the Hub River bridge, according to the PDMA. The authority said around 600 people in both cities were stranded due to the highway closure.
In Sindh, 39 men, five women and 46 children have died in rain-related accidents since mid-June, according to PDMA Sindh.
AP reported rescuers backed by troops were using boats and helicopters on Wednesday to evacuate hundreds of marooned people from Balochistan. Akram Bugti, a rescue official, said hundreds of people were stranded just in Lasbella, a district in Balochistan, after floodwater inundated several villages.
He said the Balochistan government was providing food, tents and other essential items to flood-affected people.
