STAFF REPORT
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Climate Change Musadik Malik said on Sunday that nearly two million people have been displaced across Pakistan due to devastating floods, warning that the brunt of the crisis is falling on the country’s poorest families. “Our first, second, and third priority is the poorest 40 percent—around 800,000 people—who do not have wealthy relatives to rely on and are in dire need of aid,” Malik told media. Flanked by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik, the Climate Minister urged the nation to stand with the poor. “If there is any NGO in your area or if you personally can help a displaced family, please do so,” he emphasized. The government, he said, is prioritizing urgent relief measures including the distribution of food, medicines, mosquito nets, clean drinking water, water tanks, and temporary electricity supplies to flood-hit communities. Authorities are also on high alert for the spread of epidemics in crowded makeshift camps. Malik emphasized that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, despite being abroad, is receiving daily briefings and issuing guidance on relief operations. The same reports, he said, are shared with the country’s military leadership, Field Marshal General Syed Asim Munir who is personally supervising the situation on the ground. “The federal government is standing shoulder to shoulder with the provinces, and the Army, Rangers, NDMA, PDMA, and Rescue 1122 are all working together,” Malik said. “No one can stop a natural disaster, but we are making every effort to mitigate its damage.” The minister noted that early simulations and community evacuation drills conducted over the past six months have helped reduce the loss of human life compared to previous disasters, even as property, crops, and livelihoods have been destroyed.
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