PESHAWAR: Rescue operation to save stranded people in Kumrat and Kalam has continued and 173 persons were rescued on Sunday. Thirty persons were shifted to Saidu Sharif Airport and 143 were from Kumrat were shifted to Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Sheringal (Dir Upper) respectively. The operation is being carried out through helicopters.
On the directives of the Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan, the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) of Swat and Dir Upper districts have launched rescue operation to rescue stranded people due to heavy rain and flood in Kalam and Kumrat.
In both districts both rescue and relief operations were in progress through helicopters.
Four women tourists were shifted through helicopter from Kumrat forests to the university. The Deputy Commissioner Dir Upper himself is supervising the rescue operation.
Pakistan Army also continued its rescue operation and rescued the stranded foreign tourists. Pakistan Army is carrying rescue operation in Swat, Kumrat and Dir. Spanish tourists have expressed gratitude to Pakistan Army for their rescue.
The provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has released an additional fund of Rs2.5 billion for provision of relief to the flood affected people of the province, said a dispatch of the Establishment & Administration Department to the Relief, Rehabilitation & Settlement Department here on Sunday.
The approval for the relief of the fund has been granted by the cabinet through circulation.
Chief Minister Mahmood Khan also visited the flood affected Chapperyal, Sakhra and other areas of district Swat. He inspected the flood affected roads, houses and bridges and also met flood affectees and expressed sorrow over their losses.
He said that the provincial government is taking urgent steps for immediate rehabilitation of damaged infrastructure. He said that they will not leave flood affectees alone at this critical juncture and will not take rest till their rehabilitation.
The Commissioner Malakand Division, Shaukat Ali Yousafzai has said that both the shifting of tourists to safe places and provision of food and shelter to the local flood affected people is their priority.
He said that atleast one food store at every tehisl level is being set up on emergency basis and all government machinery is in the field to ensure the provision of relief to the flood affectees.
The commissioner said that beside district administration police and other agencies are also participating in the relief operation and medicines and food items are being dispatched to inaccessible areas.
He said that all deputy commissioners of Malakand division are in the field and he himself is monitoring all rescue and relief activities in the region. He said that 132 other stranded people have been shifted to safe places through the rescue operation of Pakistan Army.
He commended the role of Pakistan Army in rescue and relief operations and said that civil and military authorities are carrying joint operation in flood affected areas of Malakand Division.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022