ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to mobilize all resources to provide relief to people in flood-affected areas, Pakistani state media reported on Saturday.
The development comes amid ongoing monsoon rains in the country that have triggered flash floods in several areas, with 155 people killed and another 468 injured since the beginning of the monsoon season in late June.
PM Sharif held a meeting with NDMA chairman Inam Haider Malik, during which he was briefed on the country’s climatic situation, particularly the flood situation in view of the monsoon rains, the state-run PTV News reported.
“All available resources should be mobilized to provide every possible assistance and relief to the people in areas affected by the floods,” Sharif was quoted as saying by the broadcaster.
“The NDMA should ensure effective coordination with relevant provincial institutions and PDMAs (provincial disaster management authorities).”
Malik informed the prime minister about the measures being taken for the rehabilitation of flood-affected people.
“NDMA’s relief operations will continue in the flood-affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Pakistan is considered one of the most vulnerable nations to climate change impacts and has experienced increasingly erratic weather in recent years, with more frequent heatwaves, droughts and extreme monsoon rainfall.
Monsoon rains and flooding killed more than 1,000 people and caused widespread damage to homes, roads, agricultural land and public infrastructure in Pakistan last year, with Punjab among the hardest-hit provinces.
In 2022, record monsoon rains and glacial melt triggered catastrophic floods that killed more than 1,700 people, affected over 33 million people and caused an estimated $30 billion in economic losses, making it one of Pakistan’s worst natural disasters.
