Screengrab of the press conference
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Saturday, in a joint press conference with representatives of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Pakistan Army, called on the global community to help the country tackle the devastation caused by this year’s floods, stressing this was a consequence of climate change that Pakistan was among the lowest contributors to.
Stressing the country was in the midst of one of the worst disasters it had ever experienced because of climate change, he noted that Pakistan emits less than 1 percent of global carbon emissions, but is seventh most vulnerable state to climate catastrophes. Recalling that rainfall of more than 500 percent above the annual average had been recorded in several parts of the country, he said deluge—and it’s consequent flooding—had damaged over a million houses, leaving a large number of families without any shelter.
Similarly, he said, nearly 5,000km of roads had been damaged, with Balochistan bearing the brunt, as the province was cut-off from the rest of the country after critical arteries were either damaged or left underwater. “Our National Highways Authority, engineers from the armed forces, and the civil administration cleared 11 of the critical highways,” he said, adding work was underway to clear the three that remained unusable.
Iqbal emphasized that despite the intensity of the calamity, all relevant authorities and institutions were working to ensure that connectivity was restored across the country. He said 81 grid stations had been non-functional for the past 15 days, but the government had managed to expedite the work, restoring 69 already, with underway for the remaining 12. Similarly, he said, 881 feeders had been damaged, resulting in mass disruption to electricity supply, but 758 had been made functional and 123 were being worked on.
The last week’s power outages across Balochistan, he said, were due to eight transmission lines being damaged, but six had been fixed and the remaining two would be restored shortly. He said 3,500 telecommunication towers had been damaged, causing disruptions to communication networks, which was hampering rescue efforts. “Now, only 600 are non-functional, while the rest are fully functional,” he said, adding Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had directed authorities to ensure that all remaining telecommunication towers were restored within the next 48 hours to ensure communication networks were revived.
Return to normalcy
Vowing that the incumbent government would ensure the country’s flooded areas returned to normal as soon as possible, the planning minister stressed this needed global support due to the scale of the humanitarian response required.
Accompanying Iqbal, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General Maj. Gen. Babar Iftikhar briefed media on the armed forces’ rescue and relief efforts, and paid tribute to Balochistan Corps Commander Lt. Gen. Sarfraz Ali and five others who were martyred in a helicopter crash while performing flood relief activities in Balochistan.
He said Corps Commanders’ Conferences in July and August had reaffirmed the armed forces’ commitment to provide all possible help to flood victims, adding Chief of Army Staff Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa had given special directions in this regard. “The Army chief visited flood-affected areas and monitored the rescue operations,” he said, noting the Army had set up 147 relief camps across the country and provided relief to 50,000 people.
In addition, he said, the Pakistan Air Force had rescued over 1,521 people trapped by the floods.
Urging everyone, including philanthropists, to donate for the relief and rehabilitation of flood victims, the military spokesman said 284 flood relief collection points have been established nationwide for this purpose.
In his briefing, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lt. Gen. Akhtar Nawaz said that monsoon rains began almost three weeks before their expected schedule and were “unprecedented.” Noting that the Pakistan Meteorological Department had forecast heavy rainfall, he said the extent of it had surprised everyone. Also causing to the people’s misery, he said, was that rains that were to occur in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and the rest of the country’s north had shifted to Balochistan’s eastern areas, south Punjab, southern KP and Sindh. “The rains were extremely heavy in Sindh, which led to an unprecedented situation,” he stressed.