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UMERKOT: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani declared Tharparkar as a calamity-hit district on Sunday and appealed to the international community and political parties of the country to extend assistance for relief and rehabilitation of the rain- and flood-affected people.
Speaking to people during a visit to relief and medical camps in Naukot Fort, he said each affected family would be given Rs20,000 through Watan Card. Members of the Hindu community also lived in Naukot and were like brothers and equal citizens of the country, he added.
Talking to journalists at Nabisar in Umerkot, Mr Gilani directed the Sindh government to remove encroachments from the river bed.
He directed the Finance Ministry to release Rs1.53 billion immediately to provide relief to flood-affected people. Presiding over a meeting in Hyderabad late on Saturday night, he said the amount was in addition to Rs500 million that had already been released.
HEALTH CONFERENCE: While addressing flood-affected people in Umerkot and Mirpurkhas, Prime Minister Gilani announced convening a National Health Conference in Lahore on Monday to discuss and formulate a national plan for combating dengue virus which claimed another six lives on Sunday.
Chief ministers of the four provinces will attend the meeting. Sri Lankan health experts already in Lahore have been invited to the conference. Dengue-related death toll reached 34 on Sunday, a source said. The official toll stands at 23.
