PROVINCE REPORT
PESHAWAR: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chitral leader and former Provincial Minister for Population, Salim Khan, on Friday called on the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments to immediately declare an emergency in flood-hit Chitral and launch relief and rehabilitation operations.
Addressing a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, he said the devastating floods of August 3 caused extensive destruction across Chitral, washing away hundreds of houses, bridges, roads, irrigation channels and standing crops. He claimed that three people lost their lives and that several parts of the district had been cut off from the rest of the country due to the damage to infrastructure.
Salim Khan criticized both the provincial and federal governments for what he described as an inadequate response to the disaster, alleging that no senior government representative had visited the affected areas or expressed concern over the losses. He also questioned the response of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), despite the availability of disaster relief funds.
He said residents of remote valleys were facing severe hardships and, in many cases, were forced to walk six to ten hours to reach Chitral city because roads had become impassable.
The PPP leader urged the authorities to conduct an immediate damage assessment, release rehabilitation funds transparently and begin reconstruction work without delay. He also alleged that funds announced for Chitral after the 2022 floods had not reached the district.
Salim Khan warned that if the governments failed to declare an emergency and initiate relief operations immediately, the PPP would launch protest demonstrations.
