DLP Report
\nPESHAWAR
\nThree days after flash floods devastated Chitral, former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa minister and PPP leader Saleem Khan on Friday accused both the provincial and federal governments of abandoning the district, saying infrastructure has collapsed, links with the rest of the country have been severed, and no senior official has visited the area.
\nAddressing a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, Mr Khan said the floods that hit Chitral on August 3 had washed away dozens of small and large bridges, destroyed hundreds of homes, damaged irrigation channels, standing crops, roads and petrol pumps, and claimed three lives.
\n\u201cThe entire infrastructure has been destroyed. Hundreds of houses and bridges have been swept away by the floods and Chitral\u2019s link with the rest of the world is completely cut off,\u201d he said.
\nAccording to Mr Khan, people in remote valleys are now forced to walk 6 to 10 hours to reach Chitral city because the main highways are unusable.
\nHe criticised the KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and provincial ministers for not issuing even a statement, and said neither the National Disaster Management Authority nor the Provincial Disaster Management Authority had launched relief operations despite having \u201ccountless funds for disasters.\u201d
\n\u201cThe provincial and federal governments have adopted the role of silent spectators as if Chitral has no connection with Pakistan,\u201d he said.
\nMr Khan also raised the issue of unspent relief money, alleging that Rs530 million allocated by the provincial government for the 2022 floods had \u201cnever reached Chitral and disappeared along the way.\u201d
\nHe further expressed disappointment at the role of KP Assembly Deputy Speaker Suraya Bibi, saying she had not raised an effective voice for Chitral in the assembly. \u201cEven when she did speak, the matter was handed over to a deputy commissioner,\u201d he added.
\nThe PPP leader demanded that the provincial and federal governments immediately declare an emergency in Chitral and conduct a damage assessment to begin rehabilitation work with full transparency.
\n\u201cIf an emergency is not imposed and relief operations are not started in Chitral soon, we will be compelled to stage protests on the roads,\u201d Mr Khan warned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DLP Report PESHAWAR Three days after flash floods devastated Chitral, former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa minister and PPP leader Saleem Khan on Friday accused both the provincial and federal governments of abandoning the district, saying infrastructure has collapsed, links with the rest of the country have been severed, and no senior official has visited the area. Addressing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":560674,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-560667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-top-news"],"yoast_head":"\n