LAHORE: Provincial cabinet committee on flood arrangements has asked all District Coordination Officers (DCOs) of flood-prone districts to submit comprehensive flood-fighting plans to deal with any emergency in their respective districts on permanent basis.
This was decided in a meeting held to review flood fighting arrangements under the chairmanship of Cabinet Committee for flood arrangements Chairman Malik Nadeem Kamran on Friday.
The meeting was attended by senior members of board of revenue, secretary irrigation, secretary communication and works and representatives of all departments concerned. It was told at the meeting that chances of heavy rain in upper catchment areas of Ravi, Satlaj, Chenab and Jhelum rivers and nullahs have reduced, according to the Metrological Department’s forecast.
Kamran said that the matter of filling the Mangla and Tarbela Dam to their full capacity was a serious issue and a committee had been constituted by the Punjab government to negotiate with WAPDA on this matter. He said that combating the flood situation every year is as important as education, health or law and order departments but the most important task is to ensure permanent arrangements to deal with this natural calamity.
He directed all DCOs to send comprehensive plans for addressing the causes of floods to safeguard the districts on permanent basis for which funds would be arranged to execute the schemes without delay. The TMOs of all 144 towns were also directed to submit reports about the total number of items related to rescue and relief.
They were also required to inform the authorities concerned about the trained human resources they have as a lot of complaints arose regarding their operations during and after rains. Concerns were expressed over the absence of police officials at the time of distribution of relief goods among flood affected people and traffic police’s failure to play its role in smooth flow of traffic in flood-affected areas.
Kamran stressed the need for enhancing coordination level between the DCOs and DPOs on this specific issue. He also directed the police department to help the district administration concerned by using their boats, wireless system and life-jackets during floods.
Communication and Works secretary informed the meeting that the road – eroded at four different points in flood-hit areas of Narowal and Sialkot – had been bridged and repaired for smooth flow of traffic.
