ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday demanded a collective response from the nation to climate change impacts, state-run media reported, as Pakistan reels from devastating floods that have killed at least 657 since the onset of the monsoon rains in late June.
Deadly floods in the country’s northern region, especially its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, have killed at least 323 people and injured 156 since Aug. 15, as per the provincial disaster management authority (PDMA). Raging hill torrents flattened several homes and swept away dozens of people in KP’s Swat, Buner, Bajaur, Torghar, Mansehra, Shangla and Battagram districts last week. Officials said several bodies were found on Sunday in the worst-hit Buner district.
Pakistan’s government launched a Monsoon Tree Plantation Drive on Monday, with state broadcaster Radio Pakistan saying more than 41 million saplings will be planted across the country during the campaign.
“President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif have called for collective response to climate change through advancement of Green Pakistan Programme,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
