Punjab Chief Minister, Shahbaz Sharif here on Thursday presided over a meeting to review pace of construction of model villages in the flood-affected areas. Addressing the meeting, the chief minister said that the worst ever floods in the history of the country caused large-scale devastation and huge damage to property while a number of villages were wiped out.
He said that Punjab government decided to set up model villages in the flood-hit areas and construction work in these is being carried out expeditiously. He further said that provision of all basic facilities including hospital, mosque, water supply and drainage system, vocational institution and solar and bio-gas plant is being ensured in model villages.
Shahbaz observed that people donated generously in the fund set up by him for relief and rehabilitation of flood-affectees and around 1.5 billion rupees have so far been deposited. He said that model villages are being constructed from this money, adding that transparent utilisation of every penny is being ensured. The CM directed to accelerate construction of model villages.
Director General Provincial Disaster Management Authority, Khalid Sherdil informed the meeting that various donors and foreign NGOs are working on the project of construction of model villages in different flood-affected areas. He said that donors are constructing 7,000 houses in 64 model villages whereas Punjab government is constructing 3,860 houses in 36 villages. He added that houses in Basti Miran Mulan district Muzaffargarh will be completed soon.
On the occasion, senior member Board of Revenue, Akhlaq Ahmad Tarrar gave details of construction of model villages in the province. Senior Advisor to CM, Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa, Members Provincial Assembly Hafiz Mian Nauman, Khawaja Salman Rafique, Secretary Local Government, Director General, Provincial Disaster Management Authority and Chief Executive Officer, Punjab Rural Support Programme were also present on the occasion.