Army Chief directs Pak Army to provide assistance amid ravaging snowfall
Pakistan Army is taking out relief activities in the affected areas.
RAWALPINDI (Dunya News) – The Army Chief of Pakistan, Qamar Javed Bajwa, on Tuesday expressed grief over the loss of lives owing to the heavy snowfall which has ravaged the parts of Azad Kashmir and Balochistan.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement said that the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) has directed the Pakistan Army to assist civil administration in the affected areas.
Army helicopters participated in relief activies in Sharda, Surgan Det, Bakwal, Turbat, while Pak Army‘s Urban Search and Rescue teams are also busy in evacuating stranded population.
Army doctors and paramedics are also busy in treating the affectees. Tents, blankets, rations and medicines have also been distributed among the affected families.
PM Imran urges NDMA and others on emergency footing
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday directed to immediately provide all humanitarian assistance on emergency footing to the people affected by land sliding in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
In his latest tweet, the prime minister asked National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the military and all federal ministers to take timely actions in this regard.
The severe snowfalls and landslides in AJK have caused misery & deaths. I have asked the NDMA, the military & all our federal ministers to immediately provide all humanitarian assistance on an emergency footing to the affected people in AJK.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) January 14, 2020
PM Imran Khan said the severe snowfalls and landslides in Azad Jammu and Kashmir have caused misery and deaths.
Severe cold weather wreaks havoc across Pakistan
A severe cold snap, snowfall and rain-related incidents have claimed the lives of at least 92 people across Pakistan in the last three days while several others were injured, according to the National Disaster Management Authority’s (NDMA) official statement.
READ MORE: At least 92 killed as extreme cold sweeps across Pakistan
As heavy snowfall and rain continued to lash parts of the country, particularly northern areas, 62 people have been killed and scores of others were injured in land sliding and avalanche over fifteen villages in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Teams of the NDMA and other relevant departments have been carrying out relief operation in the affected areas. The affected families are being provided food, blankets, medicine.
The officials advised people, particularly tourists, to avoid unnecessary travel in snowbound and landslide-prone areas during the prevailing weather conditions.
Met Office has issued a warning statement saying: “Risk of closure of inter cities connecting roads due to heavy snowfall and rains in the districts of Swat, Kohistan, Shangla, Buner, Mansehra, Abbottabad, Murree, Galyat, Neelum, Bagh, Haveli, Rawalakot, Astore, Hunza and Skardu on Monday(Night). Heavy rains may trigger landslides and Avalanches in Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Malakand and Hazara districts.”
