Rawalpindi: Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa has said that dams will have to be built to avoid future losses, on which work has been started and a detailed briefing will be given to all the Chief Ministers including the Prime Minister next week. .
According to the Public Relations Department of the Pakistan Army (ISPR), Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited the flood-affected areas in Sindh’s Dadu district and met the victims. Later, the army chief met the soldiers participating in the rescue and relief work. The army chief also directed to immediately provide 5,000 tents for the victims.
Dadu has been the worst affected by the floods.
Talking to the media after the visit, the Army Chief said that I visited all the flood affected areas of Pakistan including Othal, Naseerabad, Rajanpur, Swat, Larkana, Shahdadkot, Khairpur and others. The worst disaster in the country happened in Dadu, where there is a distance of 100 kilometers between Manchhar Lake and Hamal Lake, but due to the natural calamity, the water of the two lakes has merged.
“For the rehabilitation of the flood victims, we should not only depend on the help of the international community, we have to go ahead and help our brothers ourselves.”
He said that except for Dadu, the rescue work has been completed in the rest of the areas, where people face other problems including snakebite, we send helicopters and rescue.
Continuing his speech, General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that the rescue work and relief operations are also going on in Dadu. More emphasis, the DC has done a great job and has tied up with the Pak Army, trying to secure the city’.
“People of Sindh and Urban Sindh should come and help the brothers in trouble”
He said that first of all we are rescuing people, at this time people are giving aid from Pakistan, a lot of aid is coming from Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, I request the people of Sindh and Urban Sindh, our brothers are very difficult. , come forward and give aid to them, we should not look to the international community for everything’.
General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that the international community has started its work, the World Food Program, USAID, the people of the United Nations Secretary General have also reached here, while the countries of America, Europe, China and the Middle East are active. have gone and planes are coming from there with relief supplies, these countries can only help to a certain extent.
He said that it is the responsibility of the people in our country, come forward and help our brothers in trouble, the rehabilitation process after the flood is a big challenge which may take a long time and we are always ready for it. are ready
‘West side of Indus River caused a lot of destruction’
The Chief of Army Staff said that we have always been prepared for floods through rivers, which in an area that receives 50 mm of rain a year, if there is 1700 mm of rain in a week, we were not prepared for it. . The west side of the Indus River has caused a lot of damage.
‘Work has started on dams and drainage system to deal with floods’
He added that the government of Pakistan had conducted a flood related study from an international company in 2017 and we will revisit it and see how we have to deal with the western part of the Indus river, for which we need check dams, Drainage system will have to be built, work on which has already started.
The Army Chief said that I myself have given a task to the Army Engineering and they have also completed the research on it. Next week we will brief the Chief Ministers of the four provinces including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on this issue. The help of experts will also be taken.
‘They will make pre-fab villages for those displaced’
The commander said that planning is also being done for those who are homeless in the long term, I have an idea to build a pre-fab village, the advantage of which is that the village can be built in a few days. To build a village of 50 to 100 houses, a place will be selected for it, which may be in Balochistan or Sindh. These houses will have two bedrooms, one bathroom, one kitchen, which is estimated at five lakh rupees. These houses also have a lifespan of 50 years to 100 years.
After the flood, diseases are also coming out as big monsters.
He said that after the flood disaster, diseases are also coming out as a big monster, dengue, malaria, other diseases are coming out in Dadu, this problem is also coming out in other areas of Sindh, for this additional Battalions are conducting medical evacuations, which along with civil institutions are providing relief to the people.
He said that ‘we have learned a lot from this disaster, we will do good planning together with the government in the future’.
In response to a question, General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that I have been told that five lakh rail is passing through the Kotri Barrage at the moment, when the water in the Indus River decreases, then the water in Manchhar Lake also starts decreasing. will go, there is still 8 to 10 feet of water in some areas, which will start coming down slowly, some more measures will have to be done in Khairpur and Sukkur area, dewatering and pumps will have to be installed there. If the water in the Indus decreases, the Manchhar lake will also begin to decrease, if closed in the future
We will have to do a lot of planning to divert the water in this direction.
“Pakistan can’t do anything alone, world has to work together for climate change”
He said that for the future, small dams and water systems will have to be built, then the problem will be solved only after going there. United Nations General Secretary, USAID and American Congressmen have also come to Pakistan, Karbon told him. Pakistan’s share in the emissions is only one percent, but we are the most affected in the world, there was a big flood in 2010, there was another flood in 2022, we have to suffer the effects of the world, our glaciers too. are melting, Pakistan cannot do anything alone, the whole world has to come forward and work to tackle the problem.
General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that the world has already started raising voices for this, if nothing is done now, problems will arise for the whole world. I went to England a few months ago, it was very hot there, there is also a drought, climate change is affecting the whole world, our glaciers are melting in Siachen, we have to convince the world. We have to go towards renewables, minimize the use of hydrocarbons, we also have to reduce the process of generating electricity from oil and coal.
By building big dams in different areas including Swat, we can control floods and climate change.
The Army Chief further said that more big dams will have to be built in Pakistan, I cannot say at which place they will have to be built, dams will have to be built in other places including Swat, so that apart from flooding, we can also make abundant electricity.
