Punjab at high alert to combat flood

All District Co-ordination Officers (DCOs) and concerned departments have been put at high alert to combat any eventuality during flood season. Director General Relief and Crisis Management Chaudhry Muhammad Azam revealed this while presiding over a meeting here on Wednesday.
He said necessary equipment including boats, out boat motors (OBMs), life jackets, de-watering pumps etc had been placed at the disposal of Pak Army. As many as 850 boats including 421 fibre glasses, 404 country-made and 25 rubber boats, 892 OBMs and 8,232 life jackets had already been placed at the disposal of Pak Army, he added.
He further informed that 455 de-watering pumps for pumping of water from low-lying areas had been handed over to district governments and Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) Lahore. Moreover, search lights, battery searchlights, walky-talky sets and other necessary equipment had also been given to the concerned quarters, he added.
He further said all DCOs had been directed to keep river embankments under close and constant supervision, sites for relief camps should be visited regularly, evacuation plans must be kept ready, adequate provision of edible like atta, sugar, ghee, pulses and drinking water must be arranged, while timely warning system and mechanism for wide local publicity must be put in place.
The District Administration has been asked to have liaison with local Army units and it must be ensured that adequate numbers of boats are stationed suitably in the area.
The DG Relief further informed that combined task forces had been constituted comprising representatives of Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMAs), civil defence, health and food departments, Wapda, Sui gas and telephone departments.
Meanwhile, Advisor to Chief Minister on Social Welfare, Saba Sadiq has directed social welfare officers to remain fully vigilant and be ready to face the flood threat in Punjab.
She said that high alert be declared in sensitive 12 districts where departmental officers would co-ordinate with NGOs and other departments and start pre-flood working immediately.
She asked the officers to take maximum preventive measures to protect the people from the damages of flood, and directed the officers of Sialkot, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Muzaffargarh, Jhelum, Layyah, Jhang, Sargodha, Rajanpur, Dera Ghazi Khan and Lahore to perform their duties efficiently.
She also directed the officers to immediately prepare their work plan and take into confidence their respective NGOs and mobilise maximum volunteers in case of flood in Punjab.