950805

Leghari distributes

cheques among

flood victims

MITHANKOT: President Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari Saturday said that the government was making strenuous efforts for the rehabilitation of the people affected by devastation wrought by hill torrents and river floods.

Addressing a gathering of the flood affectees at Fakhar Bund near here, he said that the government relief agencies were providing succour to the affected people by providing food, shelter and health care at the camps erected at safer places for them.

He said that the compensation was also being provided to the heirs of the persons killed during the floods by the respective provincial governments.

Leghari said that he had issued directive to the Punjab Government to initiate some project for the taming of rivers of Indus within its brims as the provinces of the NWFP and Sindh had carried out such projects to save people from the devastating effects of deluge.

President Leghari said, under a comprehensive plan, the hill-torrents, causing loss to precious lives as well as property and agricultural lands every year, would be tamed. A series of check dams and small dams would be constructed in the areas of emanation of the torrents, he explained.

He said that a pilot project had been initiated in D G Khan division in this respect while the government was seeking the assistance of international bodies for the execution of similar schemes in other parts of the country facing the hill-torrent problem.

He hoped that the completion of these projects would not only be helpful in saving the people from the hazardous effects of floods but also lead to the utilization of torrents for bringing about 70-75 lakhs acres of barren lands in the area under plough.

Referring to the proposed Nishtar Bridge over River Indus near Mithan Kot, he said that the construction of the bridge would not only be conducive to the rapid communication between different parts of the country but would also play a strategic role in beefing up national defence.

Leghari hoped that a considerable amount would be sanctioned in the next budget for the execution of this project.

He asked the masses to face the natural calamities with courage by starting reconstruction of their houses washed away by the waters.

While sympathising with the affectees of the flood, President Leghari said that he had come to the affected areas as he shared the feelings of the people inflicted by the losses.

Later, he distributed cheques among the affectees of the floods.-APP