ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday met with people affected by recent torrential rains in Azad Kashmir and distributed compensation cheques among them.
Torrential rains that began late last month wreaked havoc in northern and southwestern regions of Pakistan and killed nearly three dozen people across the South Asian country.
In Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), downpours killed eight people and left several others injured, besides causing damage to nearly a hundred homes, according to AJK officials.
On his visit to the state capital of Muzaffarabad, PM Sharif announced Rs2 million compensation for families of those killed in rain-related incidents, Rs500,000 for the injured, Rs700,000 for completely damaged homes and Rs350,000 for partially damaged houses.
“I have come here to extend condolences to you on behalf of the whole [Pakistani] nation and the federal government and to assure you... that the Azad Kashmir government and the federal government are standing by you,” Sharif told the affected people in Muzaffarabad.
“As long as you are not rehabilitated in your homes, we will not relax until then,” he promised.
AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq said Azad Kashmir was one of the regions that were most affected by climate change, adding that disasters like flash floods, extreme rains and snowfall cause great difficulties for the Kashmiri people every year.
He said the Pakistani people and government had supported the residents of Azad Kashmir “beyond expectations” each time a calamity hit the region.
Large swathes of Pakistan were submerged in 2022 due to extremely heavy monsoon rains and melting glaciers, a phenomenon linked to climate change that damaged crops and infrastructure and killed at least 1,700 people and affected over 30 million.
The South Asian country consistently ranks among one of the most adversely affected countries from the effects of climate change.
