Islamabad: Heavy monsoon rains and flooding continue to cause widespread damage across Pakistan, media reports said Tuesday. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Mon day declared a state of emergency in four districts, relief goods were airdropped in Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur districts of Punjab.
Dozens of families were shifted to tents in Gilgit-Baltistan after their villages were destroyed and efforts were still underway to restore a key national highway link between Punjab and Balochistan, a Dawn news report said. Glacier melting in Gil-git-Baltistan wreaked havoc on Hoper Valley and Nagar Khas where flooding washed away small villages rendering around 50 families homeless.
Prime Minister Shehba z Sharif took stock of the situation at two separate meetings and decided to hold a donors’ conference to apprise international institutions about the devastation. Sharif ordered the immediate provision of 40,000 tents and 100,000 ration packets to the flood-hit.
The Indus River was expected to rise further due to hill torrents, threatening the already battered areas on its embankment. Two primary schools in Muzaffargarh have washed away as the water flow in the Indus crossed 500, 000 cusec. The administration believes the level would not start receding before August 26.
