PESHAWAR: Flood relief activities, reconstruction of infrastructure and payment of compensation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will cost around Rs68 billion, show initial estimates of the provincial government.

According to official documents available with Dawn, the government will have to spend around Rs12.2 billion to compensate families for deaths, injuries, loss of cattle and damage to their property and Rs5 billion on relief activities.

The damage to roads and bridges totals Rs18.6 billion, agriculture Rs14 billion and irrigation Rs19 billion.

The documents showed that the province’s agricultural sector was worst hit by to the monsoon disaster with initial estimates putting the damage at around Rs14 billion.

CM asks authorities to ensure fair distribution of relief goods

Officials insist the figure is likely to go up by the time final assessment of losses is made.

The documents showed that the floods killed 13, 228 cattle head causing a loss of over Rs1.5 billion to their owners and damaged 60,752 acres cultivated area all over the province destroying 97,063 metric tons standing crops and inflicting Rs9.16 billion losses on farmers.

Similarly, 2,248 watercourses and water storage tanks were washed away cost over Rs3 billion losses to the province.

The damage to the government’s three agricultural research stations in the province totalled around Rs3 billion and to 477 irrigation structures Rs19.16 billion.

The highest number of irrigation workers was destroyed in Chitral (146) followed by Swat (106), Bannu (74) and Charsadda (56).

The flash floods destroyed 90 schools and damaged 1,096 in the province, while damage to 91 health facilities, including 52 basic health units and 37 dispensaries, was also reported.

The natural calamity also damaged over 1,455 kilometers long roads in the province besides 73 bridges, mostly in Swat (29). It displaced more than 600,000 people, while damaged houses totalled 76,700 with 65,165 in Dera Ismail Khan district and 2,400 in Tank district.

The documents also showed that Upper and Lower Dir, Swat, Upper and Lower Kohistan, Charsadda, Dera Ismail Khan and Tank districts were worst hit by floods, while Upper and Lower Chitral, Mansehra and Swabi districts suffered losses of ‘medium intensity’.

According to them, the authorities evacuated more than 364,000 people from the flood-hit areas and rescued 96, 228. The relief camps put up in different districts had 56,183 people by August 31.

Also in the day, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan chaired a meeting here to examine flood relief and rehabilitation in the province and directed the relevant authorities to undertake a comprehensive study to identify ‘flood sensitive spots’ in the province and include the construction of embankments and flood protection walls in the development budget to minimise future damage.

An official statement quoted the chief minister as saying the stream of aid from donors and philanthropists should be streamlined to ensure efficient and equitable distribution of relief items and packages.

He appreciated the role of political leaders, district administrations, Provincial Disaster Management Authority, and rescue and relief workers.

Additional chief secretary Shahab Ali Shah briefed the participants on district-wise losses in different sectors, including human settlements, roads, bridges, schools, health facilities, irrigation infrastructure and agricultural infrastructure.

He said data was being collected from all districts through the district administration, which could be monitored online.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2022