FM Bilawal, CM Murad review flood situation, relief work

KARACHI - A high-level meeting between the provincial and the federal governments was held at CM House on Wednesday, in which a unanimous decision was taken to constitute a task force to coordinate, collaborate and work together with the federal government for procurement of relief goods and their distribution through an appropriate mechanism as well as restore main arteries damaged by the floods. The meeting was attended by Chairman PPP & Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Federal Minister Planning Ahsan Iqbal, provincial minister Mukesh Chawla, Advisors Murtaza Wahab, Rasool Bux Chandio, Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, Chairman NDMA Lt. General Akhtar Nawaz, Coordinator National Flood Response Center Maj Gen Zafar, Brigadier Zile Hasnain of Corps -V, Brigadier Nayar of Engineering Corps and concerned provincial secretaries. At the outset of the meeting, Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto said that the Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif had visited flood devastated areas of Sindh thrice and that the requirements of one million tents, three million mosquito nets and ration bags would be provided to the people at the earliest. Another issue he raised was the repair of main arteries such as National Highway and Indus Highway so that flow of vehicles could be ensured. He also asked the NDMA to include fodder in the relief goods so that cattle of the affected people could be fed. Relief good: The Chief Minister while briefing the meeting said that 155059 tents, including 10853 given by NDMA, 900 UNHCR, 100 Dolmen Group, 250 AJK and 500 Food departments have been dispatched/distributed in districts. He added that his government had placed the order of 460,500, of which 61,465 had been received and 399,035 are in the pipeline. Talking about Tarpaulin, the Chief Minister said that 165,187 were available with his government, including 8497 provided by NDMA, 2500 UNHCR and 100 food departments which had been distributed. He added that his government had placed an order for 335,000 Tarpaulin, of them only 85,190 had been received while 249,810 were yet to be delivered. Mr Shah said that 1.3 million mosquito nets had been distributed, of them 9730 were provided by NDMA, 600,000 NIH and 600,000 by others. He said that against a procurement order of 435,000 mosquito nets 36920 had been delivered and 398,080 are in the pipeline. The CM giving details of the ration bags said so far 152,745 bags, including 7500 of NDMA, 57225 USC and 15000 miscellaneous had been distributed. “We have placed an order of 805,000 rations bags and so far, 72,225 bags have been received while, 737,775 are in the pipeline.” Federal Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said that the PDMA was in process of procurement of relief goods, and they would be provided to the provincial government then and there. Chairman NDMA shared the data of the relief goods they were procuring. Corps -V: The Corps-V Brigadier told the meeting that they had deployed 3641 army personnel to help rain affected people. The Corps-V used foul helicopters to rescue people from the flooded areas of Qambar-Shahdadkot district. Pak army has set up 64 relief camps and nine medical camps and 147 boats and are distributing relief goods among the affected people. Flood situation: Brigadier Nayar of Engineering Corps told the meeting that rainfall was expected after September 15 and may affect LBOD. He added that currently, the Guddu 210860 and Sukkur 302476 barrages were in low flood and Kotri Barrage was facing high flood of 604127 cusecs upstream and 583882 cusecs downstream. According to the report, the West of Indus - the area from Kambar-Shahdadkot to KN Shah is under water. A flood deluge is flowing from North to South. The banks of RBOD and Indus link are protecting Dadu and Sehwan. The breaches in Manchhar Lake and RBOD would form another lake within the next three to four days. Within the next six days all barrages in the province would turn into low floods and in normal flow. Manchhar’s level is at 122.3 RL. At this the chief minister said that the efforts were being taken to protect Indus Link/RBOD to save Dadu and Sehwan. Major decisions: The political leadership in the meeting decided to strengthen RBOD and Indus link bunds to save Dadu and Sehwan. The road and load management on Dadu-Moro bridge would be carried out. It was also decided to strengthen canal bunds and LBOD surrounding Pangrio town. The CM in consultation of Irrigation experts and Engineering Corps decided to regulate water of Dhoro Pran and discharge its water into Spinal Drain – LBOD. Dewatering: The Army Engineering Corps told the meeting that dewatering in Khair would have been started with the coordination of civil administration. The meeting directed district administration, Irrigation, Agriculture, local govt and Public health engineering depts to make necessary arrangements to dispose of rainwater from towns, cities and agricultural lands so that people could start to return to their homes. The chief minister plans to prepare lands for late rabi crops to grow wheat. At the conclusion of the meeting, it was decided that a provincial task force would be notified to work with the federal government to meet the requirements of flood affected relief goods and then for rehabilitation. The chief minister said that the taskforce would be notified by Thursday.