At least 81 people lost their lives and over 55,400 houses were destroyed due to the flood which wreaked havoc in different districts of Punjab.
This was revealed in a report by Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), which was released on Tuesday after the completion of a survey of the flood-hit areas of the province regarding the damages caused by the floods. The PDMA completed the survey with the help of the Pakistan Army, Urban Unit, Revenue department and other organizations. The report stated that 55,452 houses were destroyed by the floods in Punjab, including 47,585 raw and 7,867 solid houses. “At least 652 animals were killed in the flood; 494 small and 158 large,” stated the report and continued that crops standing on 430,000 acres were also damaged due to the flood.
PDMA DG Faisal Farid said that this comprehensive survey was completed to estimate the damage caused by the flood which was prepared with the help of different departments concerned after visiting every town and village. He said that the victims will be given financial assistance of Rs200,000 for the partial damage of the solid houses and Rs50,000 rupees for the partial damage of the raw houses. Farid said that Rs75,000 for the death of a large animal and Rs5,000 for a small animal. “A financial assistance of Rs5000 will be given against the land damaged up to five acres,” said the DG PDMA.
Talking about the compensation to families of deceased persons, he said that one million rupees has already been distributed. “A total of Rs81 million have been distributed among the families of 81 deceased persons,” he said, adding that 55 people were injured and two people were disabled during the recent floods in Punjab. “The government of Punjab has given one hundred thousand rupees to the disabled persons and forty thousand rupees to the injured to provide assistance.”
Furthermore, PDMA DG Faisal Farid informed that the Punjab government had increased the amount of aid for the rehabilitation of the victims several times and it will spend a huge amount of Rs12 billion on the complete rehabilitation of the flood victims. Later, the Bank of Punjab and PDMA signed an MoU regarding the distribution of funds to the flood victims. Punjab Relief Commissioner Zahid Akhtar Zaman, Director Operation PDMA Dr. Faisal Saleem and other officers were present at the occasion. DG PDMA said that the funds will be distributed among the flood victims through 25 branches of the Bank of Punjab in the affected districts where special counters have been set up to assist the victims.
