ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Planning Development & Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal has directed the National Disaster Management Authority to take measures in cohort with provincial governments to carry out a joint survey assessing the damages caused by the recent floods in the country. He made these directions during a meeting chaired by him, which was attended by the Chairman, National Disaster Management Authority NDMA, representatives from Provincial Disaster Management Authorities, officials from the Ministry of Water Resources and other relevant stakeholders. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had constituted a committee after the recent floods in the country and Ahsan Iqbal is the head of the committee. About the rescue and relief activities being carried out in flood-hit areas, the Minister stressed to provide assistance to affected families who have lost their houses in the calamity. The effective measures should be made for reconstruction of damaged infrastructure immediately, he added. The Minister directed NDMA to plan and design bankable projects and a climatic resilient infrastructure to minimize losses in the wake of natural disasters in future and to seek financial assistance from development partners to bankroll the projects. He said that the federal government has announced compensation of one million rupees to each deserving family who lost their dear ones during the floods. He said this compensation had been provided to eighty percent people. The Minister said that the Prime Minister has also decided to immediately launch a special package for the flood hit areas of Balochistan. He said the families meeting the criterion of Benazir Income Support Program in the calamity-hit areas will be relieved through a package to enable them to meet their basic necessities of life including that of ration.