CHITRAL: Chief Secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry visited both Lower and Upper Chitral today and issued a directive for the formulation of a comprehensive relief and rehabilitation plan for the areas impacted by the recent floods in the valley.
This plan aims to address the immediate needs and long-term recovery of the flood-affected communities. All concerned officials and organizations were requested to submit essential information regarding identification, progress and the way forward for relief and rehabilitation efforts
In the context of the relief and rehabilitation, the plan for the flood-affected areas of Lower and Upper Chitral should acknowledge the significance of addressing the uprooting of trees and implementing soil erosion avoidance measures.
The devastating floods may have caused uprooting of trees, leading to the degradation of natural landscapes and exacerbating the risk of soil erosion. The plan seeks to undertake proactive steps to mitigate these ecological impacts and restore the environmental stability of the affected areas.
During his visit to Upper Chitral, the chief secretary met a delegation of political representatives at the PTDC motel. The delegation presented the official a joint resolution demanding the imposition of an emergency in Chitral, immediate reconstruction of the damaged Chitral-Mastuj road and bridges and other infrastructure.
The resolution also demanded a transparent survey of flood damages and payment of compensation to the affected people. It also called for the rehabilitation of the displaced people. The government was also reminded of the demand of the people of Chitral to supply them subsidized wheat.
As a first step, the chief secretary declared an emergency in the two flood-hit districts. This will help the government to carry out the reconstruction of roads and bridges on an emergency basis without going through the prolonged process of tendering etc.
About the wheat issue, the chief secretary asked for a ‘doable’ proposal. He was of the view that those registered with the BISP can be provided subsidized wheat through the utility stories.
On former MNA Shahzada Iftikharuddin’s request to start work on Chitral-Shandur, Garam Chashma and Bumburate roads, for which sufficient funds have been allocated in federal budget, the chief secretary assured him of expediting the process to launch the projects.