Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Saturday released Rs 3 billion for all earthquake affected districts of the province for payment of compensation to quake victims through special counters of the National Bank. Special Assistant to Chief Minister KP for Information and Higher Education Mushtaq Ghani in a statement issued here said that special counters of National Bank have been established in 12 quake-affected districts that would pay compensation amount to the victims for next 30 days.
He informed that Rs 20 million credited to district administration Nowshera, Rs 40 million to district administration Kohistan and Rs 10 million to district Commissioner Battagram, adding the amount would be spent on relief activities. Ghani said the provincial government is taking pragmatic measures to support the quake victims and for this purpose, the government machinery and supporting agencies are playing their due role. He said that officials of PDMA, Pak Army and local representatives are actively engaged in relief activities so that the quake victims could resettle before the start of cold season. Mushtaq Ghani said the KP government has deployed rescue teams to inaccessible areas where relief operations are in full swing, adding that officials of PDMA and the provincial government departments are monitoring relief operations and update the government about every day-to-day situation.
He said the government stands united with the quake affected people and committed to utilising all available resources till the rehabilitation of each and every quake victim. The KP Government spokesman further said that assessment of losses is also being ascertained by teams of PDMA and relevant departments. He, however, advised the affected people to contact PDMA on emergency numbers or relevant departments if the survey teams couldn't reach them due to any reason.