KARACHI: President of the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) Salman Aslam has announced the formation of a seven-member committee to help the victims of rains and flash floods in Balochistan under his supervision.
Other members of the committee are KATI’s Vice President Farrukh Ali Qandhari, Junaid Naqi, Hamud-ur-Rahman, Umar Saeed, Ahsan Farooqui and Mir Jan.
Salman Aslam appealed to the KATI members to generously take part in the drive to help the victims and provide rations to them.
He said that the relief goods, other necessary items and the donations collected by the members of KATI under his leadership will be distributed among the affected people in four villages of Balochistan. The four villages that have been hit particularly badly are located in the sub-tehsil Aranji, sub-tehsil Oranchi, sub-tehsil Grisha and Union Council Badri.
The patron-in-chief of the association, S.M. Muneer, said that the entire business community of the country, especially the members of KATI, stand with the people of Balochistan in this hour of need and will take all possible steps to provide relief to them.
The KATI’s office-bearers, including its president, met a delegation headed by Commissioner of Afghan Refugees Repatriation Cell (Sindh) Hamud-ur-Rehman Mengal. Vice President Syed Farrukh Qandhari, Junaid Naqi, and Syed Wajid Hussain were among those who were present on the occasion.
Salman Aslam pointed out that dozens of bridges in the country’s largest province have been destroyed by the floods and rains and dozens of highways, spread over about 670 kilometres, severely affected. Similarly crops standing on plots of land measuring a total of 200,000 acres have been damaged.
He said that the number of people who have died due to the floods in Balochistan has reached 166 and many of the survivors are still waiting for assistance from the government.
The KATI president said that although floodwaters have receded by now but not before leaving behind a trail of destruction. As a result, routine life has been paralysed in many parts of the province, more than 15,000 houses have been destroyed, and there is a severe shortage of food items in the affected areas.
That’s why large-scale relief operations must be started immediately, he said. Failure to do so thus far has served to compound the misery and difficulties of the victims, as many connecting roads have still to be restored.
Salman Aslam said that the KATI’s seven-member relief committee will make efforts for mounting relief operations in Balochistan and will take steps to deliver aid to the victims, while also cooperating in the relief operations of the government and Pakistan Army.
He said that it is the duty of the government to estimate the losses in a transparent manner and give adequate compensation to the families of the deceased, besides ensuring proper supply of cash and daily-use items to those who survived the calamity.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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