Peshawar:
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has announced a substantial increase in compensation packages for victims of recent floods, promising rapid and transparent financial support to families who lost loved ones, injuries suffered or suffered damage to property.
Prime Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, in a video statement on Thursday, said that the provincial government had doubled the death compensation of RS1 million to RS2 million per victim.
Compensation for injured people has risen from RS250,000 to RS500,000. The owners of completely destroyed houses will now receive RS1 million instead of RS400,000, while partially damaged houses will be compensated at RS300,000, compared to RS100,000.
For the first time, merchants whose businesses were destroyed will receive RS500,000, while the owners of stores whose establishments were flooded will receive RS100,000 for cleaning expenses.
In addition, he announced that compensation would also provide losses to crops, orchards and cattle, with details to end the help department. To facilitate these payments, the Government has already published RS6.5 billion to the Aid Department and will soon issue an additional 5 billion rupees, which makes the total allocation of 11.5 billion.
Highlighting the destruction scale, Gandapur said that the torrential clouds and rains since August 15 have left 406 people dead and another 245 wounded throughout the province.
The most affected districts include Buner, Swat, Shangla, Bajaur, Mansehra and Swabi. The floods and landslides destroyed 664 houses and damaged 2,431 more. Infrastructure losses were also immense, with 511 roads, 77 bridges and 2,123 affected stores.
The CM said the provincial government responded immediately after receiving reports from the first cloud in Bajaur on August 15.
The relevant departments, rescue teams and district administrations mobilized without delay. “The timely response from officials and rescue workers saved thousands of lives,” he added.
According to the CM, a total of 5,566 people were rescued during operations carried out with the help of 176 vehicles and boats and more than 2,000 rescue personnel.
Aid activities began immediately after rescue efforts, with 119,000 people who provided cooked meals and 125 trucks that transported essential relief products sent to the affected areas. He said that 136 roads and 65 bridges had already been restored, while 70 medical camps were established in regions affected by floods to provide medical care.
Gandapur shared details of distributed financial assistance to date. Families of 350 deceased people have been paid a total of RS654 million. The value compensation of RS195 million has been granted to 18 injured individuals, while the verification process for others is underway.
In addition, 4,432 beneficiaries have received RS15,000 each under food coupons, for ascent to RS665 million. Payments from RS280 million have been made to merchants, while RS790 million have been disbursed to affected homes. Additional compensation will soon be distributed that is worth more than RS2.3 billion.
The CM emphasized that compensation will be provided transparently and without problems through a digital payment system. For children who lost parents in floods, the attached commissioners are opening special accounts to guarantee timely payments.
