PM reviews relief operations in avalanche-hit AJK areas
Death toll in avalanches, landslides and other rain-related incidents raises to 97
January 15, 2020 07:51 PM
MUZAFFARABAD
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday visited Azad Kashmir’s capital Muzaffarabad to review relief operations in the wake of damages incurred due to avalanche.
Extreme weather conditions and snowslides in the Neelum valley on Tuesday resulted in death toll, rising over 60 and leaving several injured.
The prime minister was given a briefing by Chief Secretary AJK Mathar Niaz Rana regarding the heavy loss of life and property.
Prime Minister Imran Khan also visited the Combined Military Hospital, Muzaffarabad and enquired after the health of injured, under treatment at CMH.
According to National Disaster Management Authority, the avalanches affected the villages of Surgan, Kel, Lawat, Chaknat and other places of Neelum District, leaving 67 dead, 53 injured, 198 houses damaged including 22 shops, a mosque and 12 vehicles.
The death toll in avalanches, landslides and other rain-related incidents during the current spell of a westerly wave weather system across the country has surged to 98, with most of the cases being reported from AJK.
Officials had said the figure could further go up as some areas in the Neelum Valley were still inaccessible due to heavy snowfall, while weather pundits forecast another spell of snowfall beginning on Friday.
Soon after the incident, Imran Khan had directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the military and all federal ministers to immediately provide humanitarian assistance on an emergency basis to the affected people in AJK.
A high-level meeting of AJK government, chaired by prime minister Raja Farooq Haider on Tuesday decided to shift the affected population immediately on war-footings to the safer places, besides providing best available medical facilities to the injured.
The AJK civil administration was directed to accelerate rescue operations in affected areas with the cooperation of Pakistan Army, while the Highway Wing was asked to deploy more machinery for road clearance to ensure smooth relief operation.
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