PM reprimands officials for discrepancies; directs fool-proof distribution of emergency relief goods
NAWABSHAH, Sep 17 (APP):  Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani Saturday reprimanded the administration when during a presentation he noticed glaring discrepancies in the delivery arrangements of tents and relief goods for the flood affected people.The Prime Minister who is on a two-day visit to the areas affected by the unprecedented rains and heavy floods in Sindh directed the officials of the National Disaster Management Authority and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority to sit together with the members of the Prime Minister’s Relief Committee and evolve a comprehensive strategy and fool-proof arrangements for the delivery of emergency relief goods and tents to the flood-affected people, without any delay.The Prime Minister earlier while talking to Reuters said the magnitude of the disaster was much beyond the capacity of Pakistan and appealed to the international community to help in mitigating the sufferings of millions of people on emergent basis.
Gilani who earlier visited relief camps at Nawabshah and Sanghar assured the people that the government would not leave them alone and will stand by them throughout the difficult period. He assured that the displaced people would soon return to their homes.
The Prime Minister who earlier distributed relief goods at Nawabshah and Sanghar directed the Chairman NDMA to arrange aerial spray in the flood-affected areas, besides provision of preventive and curative medicines to contain any likely spread of disease.
Chief Secretary Sindh briefed the Prime Minister and said over six million people have been affected on both the left and right banks of the river Indus.
He said during the heavy floods of last summer vast areas were inundated on the right bank of the river, while the left bank was spared from the raging waters. However, he said, this year the floods have also spread on a large area on the left bank.
He said crops of cotton and sugar cane spreading over 2 million acres have been damaged, with initial estimate of losses running into billions of rupees.
He said the two spells of heavy rain during August and September caused the widespread flooding in Sindh.
Chairman NDMA informed the Prime Minister that the organisation had distributed 70,000 tents for immediate shelter to the PDMA, along with 600,000 bags of dry food rations, while the provincial government had distributed another 150,000 bags.
He said one bag had enough food to cater to the needs of a family of six people for a week.
According to the NDMA the worst-hit districts include Badin, Mirpur Khas, Tando Mohammad Khan, Sanghar, Umerkot, while the less affected areas include Shikarpur, Jacobabad and Sukkur.
Prime Minister Gilani will visit other flood affected districts of Sindh tomorrow and will be accompanied by members of the PM’s Relief Committee including Senator Nayyar Hussain Bokhari, Syed Khurshid Shah, Raja PervaIz Ashraf and Nazar Mohammad Gondal.