ISLAMABAD: Devastating floods that have hit a third of Pakistan with over 500% above average rainfall and claimed more than 1,200 lives, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif says it is time to bring back normalcy in the country. National efforts were underway on a large scale.
Taking to Twitter, PM Shahbaz said, “Massive national efforts are underway to restore essential services in the flood-affected areas.”
He said that the National Highways Authority of India, Power Disco, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and other federal departments have worked wonders against the heaviest odds and rehabilitated the extensively damaged infrastructure.
In another tweet, the Prime Minister said that the floods severely damaged power systems in Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He said that it is a big challenge to supply electricity to the affected areas.
He felicitated Secretary Electricity Department Rashid Langriyal and his team for their continuous work to ensure restoration of power supply.
Pakistan seeks international support
In a joint press conference with military officials at the National Flood Response and Coordination Center, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal called on the international community to support Pakistan and assured the nation that the government – backed by its office bearers – “will leave no stone unturned” “So that normalcy can be restored as soon as possible.
The Planning Minister also called on the international community to ensure that their resolve to support Pakistan remains unshakable as the scale of the disaster requires a major humanitarian response.
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) figures show that as of September 3, 1,265 people have lost their lives, 12,577 people have been injured, 735,584 cattle have been killed and 1,427,039 houses have been damaged.
Due to internal displacement, more than 500,000 people are currently living in relief camps in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Punjab.
Iqbal told the press briefing that Pakistan is facing one of the worst disasters due to climate change and is not to blame for it – as the country emits only 1% of carbon, but is the seventh most vulnerable to climate disasters. Is.
More than a million houses have been damaged due to the floods, he said, adding that 500% more rainfall than normal has led to devastating floods across the country.
The minister said that around 5,000 km of road has been damaged with the worst situation in Balochistan.
He said that about 10 days ago, 14 important highways that connect Balochistan to the rest of the country and are important for the economy were not accessible due to heavy floods.
“I am happy to say that our national higher authority, engineers of armed forces and civil administration have cleared 11 important highways,” he said, adding that continuous work is underway to clear the remaining three.
The Planning Minister said that despite the intensity of the disaster, officials and institutions were working to ensure that connectivity was restored across the country.
Iqbal said that 81 grid stations were non-functional in the last 15 days, but after fast-tracking, 69 have been restored and 12 will be operational soon – leading to restoration of power in many parts of the country .
The federal minister said that 881 feeders were affected in one way or the other, causing power outages. Of these, 758 have been made operational and 123 will be restored later.
Eight transmission lines have been disrupted, causing power outages especially in Balochistan, he said, adding that six have been restored, while the rest will be restored soon.
The planning minister said 3,500 telecom towers were damaged, disrupting communication.
He said that during the initial phase of the floods, services were stalled in the flood-affected areas for several days, which also affected the rescue work.
“Now, only 600 are non-functional, while the rest are fully functional.”
He said Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has directed officials to ensure that the remaining telecom towers are restored within the next 48 hours.
The Planning Minister said that the PTA is working with the companies concerned to ensure that communication lines are restored at the earliest.
Army sets up 147 relief camps
Briefing the media on the rescue and relief efforts by the Armed Forces, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Babar Iftikhar paid tributes to Balochistan Corps Commander Lt Gen Sarfaraz Ali and others who died in a helicopter crash while serving the nation. were martyred. amidst the floods.
The Corps Commanders’ Conferences held in July and August reaffirmed the commitment to provide all possible help to the flood-affected and Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa gave specific instructions in this regard, he said.
“The army chief visited the flood-affected areas and oversaw the rescue operation,” the spokesman said. He said that Army officials rescued the people despite bad weather and other challenges.
“Army sets up 147 relief camps across the country” [to facilitate the flood victims]Babar Iftikhar said. He added that 50,000 people have been given shelter in relief camps.
An army spokesman said that the Pakistan Air Force rescued more than 1,521 people trapped in the floods.
Urging people and philanthropists to donate to the flood victims, an army spokesman said that 284 flood relief collection centers have been set up across the country.
change in monsoon pattern
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) chairman Lt Gen Akhtar Nawaz said the monsoon rains started almost three weeks ahead of its scheduled schedule and it was “unprecedented”.
The NDMA president said that heavy rainfall was expected, but the rainfall was more than forecast, resulting in extreme flooding across the country.
The rains – which were due to hit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir and the northern regions – deviated from their traditional routes and lashed the eastern regions of Balochistan, southern KP, DG Khan of Punjab and Rajanpur and Sindh.
“Heavy rains lashed Sindh, creating an unprecedented situation,” he said.
‘Work continues to restore telecom services’
Meanwhile, in a statement, the PTA said that continuous efforts to restore connectivity in the flood-affected areas have reduced the number of mobile sites affected across the country to 568 (less than 1.1% of the total sites).
The PTA said 80 more sites have been restored in the last 24 hours and work is on to fully restore telecom services in other areas.
The non-functional sites are currently mostly inaccessible and underwater due to flooding, the statement said, adding that “joint efforts with relevant civil and military authorities for access and decontamination of underwater sites” are being done”.
The telecommunications infrastructure was extensively damaged by floods and torrential rains. The number of sites affected as on 28 August 2022 was 3386 (6.55% of the total sites across Pakistan), which have been restored through tireless efforts by the maintenance teams of all telecom operators.