KACHHI (APP): Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday said during the current situation which arose after the monsoon rains and floods, the entire nation was working in unison and inspiration to overcome the problems which was very important.
Expressing his view after getting a briefing from the relevant authorities over the reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts of road, rail and bridges infrastructure in the area, the prime minister said that it was a matter of satisfaction that all the people had been involved to overcome the enormous issues after the natural calamity hit the country.
Appreciating the efforts of the district administration authorities and others, the prime minister said their commitment and devotion had been a source of inspiration for the general public. He said that he saluted all those who had been involved in the relief and rehabilitation efforts. The chief minister and the chief secretary had been coordinating and working with all the relevant authorities, he added. It was your commitment to the nation, he said, adding that their efforts would serve as a beacon of light for the people. It was the teamwork that could yield results in trying times, he opined.
The prime minister announced Rs5 million relief grant for the labourers who were working there in the difficult situation and another amount of Rs1 million for the staff that was working for the restoration of gas pipelines. A committee would be set up to dispense the amount on merit.
The prime minister said the floods had caused large-scale damages across the country, affecting all the provinces. About 1300 lives were lost, livestock swept away, while the economic and infrastructure damages were enormous.
In this district, the prime minister said, recent floods had swept away Bibi Nani bridge, disrupting traffic from Quetta to Sukkur and leaving about 6000 people stranded on both ends. He appreciated the NHA, law enforcement jawans and other authorities who restored the damaged bridge within 8 hours, adding that they did a great national service.
The prime minister said that when a catastrophe hit, the whole nation stood up and march in unison by working hard to overcome the challenges. The prime minister announced Rs3 million for those labourers working on the restoration of Bibi Nani bridge. National Highway Authority Chairman Khurram Agha also briefed the prime minister about the restoration of Bibi Nani bridge. About 106 kms road around Bibi Nani and Pinjar Bridges were largely affected. The chief minister thanked the prime minister for his visits and continuous support to the flood-affected areas of the province. He said the FC personnel had played a major role in the restoration of connectivity bridge. He also announced Rs2 million for the labourers and workers.
PM commends ministry, NHA for rehabilitation of flood-affected road infrastructures
ISLAMABAD (APP): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has commended the Ministry of Communications and National Highway Authority (NHA) for the construction and rehabilitation of highways and bridges in flood-affected areas across the country.
According to NHA, Secretary Communications and Chairman National Highway Authority Captain (R) Muhammad Khurram Agha gave a detailed briefing to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during the flight at Bibi Nani on the flood-affected roads and the ongoing rehabilitation work on the link bridges and Pinjarra Bridge. The Prime Minister lauded Federal Minister of Communications Maulana Asad Mehmood, Chairman NHA and his team for their keen interest and efforts on ongoing rehabilitation work on the bridges, highways etc.
The recent heavy rains and floods have severely damaged the national highway network in Balochistan and the province’s land connectivity with other provinces has been cut off, due to which not only the movement of traffic but also the delivery of goods and relief activities were facing difficulties. Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo said that there was no example of how quickly and in a short spam NHA restored the Pinjarra bridge and Bibi Nani for the movement of traffic.
Further, the land connection from Swat with Bahrain has been also restored with the efforts of the minister and Corps Engineers of Pakistan Army, NHA, District Administration have also played a vital role in this regard. The NHA staff was also at the forefront of relief activities in the country. The national highways of Sindh province have been greatly affected by the recent rains and floods.
Passengers were requested by NHA to get information from NHA zonal office before travelling while the road of National Highway N55 from Dadu to Nasirabad (35km) has been submerged in flood water. The district administration has also closed N55 for traffic and diverted N55 traffic to N-5.
Therefore, due to the traffic of N55, there has been an additional load of traffic on N-5. However, the Motorway Police was trying to restore traffic on N5.
The NHA officials have also contacted the Chief Secretary Sindh and IG Sindh and asked for police presence to restore the flow of traffic.
Under the direction of the minister, the architects and field staff of NHA were busy day and night in restoring all the damaged highways.
