Govt announces to increase flood relief aid under BISP

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced that the government had decided to increase the flood relief assistance under Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) from the existing Rs 28 billion to Rs 70 billion. According to details, the 2.5 times increase in the volume of the assistance programme has been made in view of the gross damages to lives, infrastructure and crops amid flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains. Speaking during his visit to the relief camp set up in Qambar Shahdad Kot, the prime minister said that the country witnessed unprecedented loss due to floods. PM Shehbaz Sharif mentioned that the compensation amount of Rs 25,000 was being given to each flood-affected family to help them recover their financial losses. The premier also expressed concern that the cotton crop in the flood-hit areas of Sindh, which was means of livelihood for locals, was entirely damaged by floods. He said provision of shelter to the displaced persons was direly needed, adding that the government had placed the order for the purchase of seven million tents. Medical camps, he said, had also been set up at the relief camps to avert the spread of diseases. The prime minister expressed gratitude to the friendly countries for extending assistance to Pakistan following the flood losses. He said the magnitude of the disaster was bigger than the capacity of the country to effectively cope. He urged the nation including intelligentsia and media to focus on the flood situation and set aside highlighting politics for later times. Earlier in the day, it was reported that another 24 people lost their lives in flash floods caused by torrential downpours across Pakistan over the past 24 hours, pushing the overall toll to over 1314. According to a report issued by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the majority of the deaths were reported in Pakistan’s Sindh province, where hundreds of thousands of people have been stranded by floods triggered by heavy rains.