SUKKUR/ISLAMABAD: As he assured Sindh that the federal government would not leave flood survivors in a lurch, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the Centre would spend at least Rs5 billion to construct houses for flood victims in the province.

After his visit to rain-hit areas in Khairpur on Wednesday, the prime minister said that Rs4.80 billion had been donated to the prime minister’s account for flood survivors and added that more funds were expected to be donated.

According to PM Sharif, the rehabilitation process was already underway across the country, but there were still several areas in Khairpur and Dadu which were underwater.

He added that the government would move towards reconstruction and rehabilitation works, but at present, at least eight million families were rain-affected.

He elaborated that at least 20m people, including nine million children, were waiting for the government to help them.

Govt launches ‘4RF’ comprehensive plan for rehabilitation of millions of survivors

Drainage plan

He said that the government would build houses for the affected people and added that the chief minister would provide plots for the construction and the same process would be followed in other provinces as well.

“A donors conference is going to be held in Geneva next month,” said PM Sharif and added that he would go to the moot fully prepared to present Pakistan’s case for aid in light of massive destruction due to floods. The PM also announced the establishment of a campus of COMSATS University in Khairpur.

Speaking at the residence of PPP leader Manzoor Wassan in Khairpur, Shehbaz Sharif said that his government would “positively consider” the master plan for drainage on the left bank of the River Indus proposed by a foreign consultant, Louis Berger.

Mr Sharif said that the scale of the disaster was massive so Pakistan would require plenty of resources to tackle this challenge.

During the visit, the premier was also briefed by Chief Engineer Development Region-I Mansoor Memon in Pir Gaddo, Kot Diji about inundated areas in the province.

The chief engineer said that out of 3.3m acres of area, 2m acres were inundated on the right bank and 1.3m acres on the left bank of the Indus till Aug 31.

In Khairpur, 141,000 acres of land was submerged till Aug 31 but now only 7,800 acres of land needed to be dewatered, Mr Memon informed. He maintained that field drains on an area of 200 square kms were created to drain rainwater.

According to the chief engineer, Khairpur was a victim of a “poor drainage network” and the only drainage system that existed in the area pertained to salinity control and water-logging issue. He informed when the Sukkur barrage was built, the flow of natural watercourses in the area was obstructed.

“Even this area where we are standing is an old waterway,” Mr Memon said while showing the site on a satellite image.

He said that floodwater from the mountainous range stretching over 75,000 sq kms in Balochistan reached Qambar Shahdadkot and Dadu districts in recent floods and 600,000 acres and 400,000 acres of the area was inundated respectively in Qambar and Dadu districts. This meant that out of 2m acres, 50pc of the area was affected in these two districts, he added.

Speaking about the Berger plan regarding drainage, the engineer urged that the scheme was of paramount importance for left bank areas. CM Murad agreed. The Sindh CM said the provincial government wanted to use funds deposited with the apex court in the Bahria Town case for the execution of this scheme.

‘4RF plan’

Separately, the government launched a comprehensive plan prepared by the planning and development division for the rehabilitation of flood victims.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Prime Minister Shehbaz launched the ‘Resilient, Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Framework’ (4RF) which envisaged short, medium, and long-term strategies to rehabilitate the survivors.

A copy of the 4RF report was presented to the prime minister by Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives (MoPD&SI) during a meeting.

Mr Iqbal apprised the prime minister that the document was based on the loss and damage estimated in the post-disaster needs assessment report, which was launched in October this year.

PM Sharif directed that necessary efforts must be made for the effective pitching of this framework in the upcoming donors’ conference, scheduled to be held on January 9, 2023, in Geneva, Switzerland.

He directed that the planning ministry in coordination with the foreign ministry, climate change ministry, and economic affairs division may take necessary steps for the effective dissemination of the document to all the stakeholders at home and abroad.

Mohammad Hussain Khan in Hyderabad also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2022