PM Shehbaz directs financial assistance for families affected by monsoon rains, floods

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday directed financial assistance for families affected by the recent monsoon rains and floods across the country.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on X, PM Shehbaz chaired a meeting in Lahore regarding the progress in relief and rehabilitation activities during the monsoon rains.

The prime minister directed that financial assistance be provided to the families of all individuals who lost their lives in the floods, as well as to owners of houses that were completely or partially damaged by the rains and floods.

The prime minister further directed that “the restoration of the electricity transmission system and roads in the areas affected by the floods should be completed as soon as possible.”

Moreover, PM Shehbaz also directed the relevant federal ministers and secretaries to visit the affected areas, personally assess the damage caused by the rains, initiate restoration work, and accelerate relief operations in the affected areas, the PMO said.

It added that the premier further directed the acceleration of provisional activities, stating that essential food items and other relief materials be delivered as soon as possible to all affected areas where relief supplies had not yet reached due to inaccessibility.

According to PMO, PM Shehbaz directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and provincial disaster management authorities to remain fully prepared for relief operations in view of the forecast of further rains and floods.

“In anticipation of further rains and floods, teams from the NDMA and provincial disaster management authorities are ready to assist the public,” the PMO noted.

Further, the meeting was briefed on the impact of this year’s monsoon and the progress of relief operations by the provinces and the NDMA. It was informed that “the timely evacuation of flood-affected people to safe locations had been completed in all affected areas of the country,” the PMO noted.

Read: Persistent rains keep twin cities on edge

It added that, so far, 615 tonnes of relief goods had been dispatched to monsoon-affected areas across the country, with further supplies being arranged.

The briefing was also informed that restoration work was progressing rapidly in rain and flood-affected areas of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

According to the PMO, the briefing was also told that early warning systems were active in the northern areas, due to which multiple citizens had been evacuated to safe locations before the floods.

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The meeting was attended by federal ministers Ahsan Iqbal, Ahad Khan Cheema, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Mian Moin Wattoo, Dr Musadiq Masood Malik, Sardar Awais Khan Leghari. Chief secretaries of all four provinces including G-B and AJK, alongside Chairman NDMA Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik, and senior officers from relevant institutions, were also in attendance.