ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar said on Saturday the government had restored electricity in most flood-affected districts in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, reported state media, as the nationwide monsoon death toll climbed to 788 since late June.
Annual monsoons are vital for agriculture and replenishing water supplies, but in recent years they have also unleashed destructive flooding and landslides
The latest downpours, which intensified from Aug. 15 in districts such as Swat, Shangla, Buner and Swabi, killed hundreds across KP and raised fears of a repeat of the catastrophic 2022 floods that submerged a third of the country and caused $30 billion in damage.
More rain is forecast through the end of the month, likely to affect Islamabad, Azad Kashmir, KP, Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan and coastal districts in Sindh and Balochistan.
“Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar says the electricity has mostly been restored in flood affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” Radio Pakistan said.
“Giving the latest updates about rescue and relief efforts … he said that out of sixty feeders, fifty-two have been restored in Swat, Shangla, Buner and Swabi,” it added.
Tarar also said the remaining eight feeders will soon be restored.
The minister said no national highways were blocked at present and federal authorities were assisting the KP government in reopening provincial roads.
He added that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has been coordinating with provincial bodies, while the Pakistan Army has deployed units to reinforce rescue and relief work.
According to the latest NDMA situation report, the monsoon death toll in the country has reached 788, with over 1,000 people injured in rain-related incidents from Jun. 26 to Aug. 23.
KP has been the worst-hit, with 469 deaths, most of them caused by the recent cloudbursts beginning on Aug. 15.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also instructed the disaster agencies to step up their activities in flood-hit areas, and prepare for the next two monsoon spells forecast by the weather authorities.
