ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif this week announced that his government would launch a national campaign against construction around rivers, water courses and streams, state-run media reported, as the death toll from deadly floods and rains since Jun. 26 surged to 788.
Environmental experts have warned that riverbed mining, unregulated logging and construction in natural flood channels weaken ecosystems, block drainage routes, and intensify the impact of heavy rains. In July, Pakistan’s mountainous northern Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region, which is home to over 13,000 glaciers, banned the construction of new hotels around lakes.
Deadly rains and floods have swept several parts of Pakistan, including its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, killing at least 788 persons in total since Jun. 26. KP has reported the highest number of deaths, 469, followed by Punjab with 165, Sindh with 54, GB with 45, Balochistan with 24 and Azad Kashmir with 23 casualties while Islamabad has reported eight deaths.
“A national campaign will be launched to stop construction around rivers, streams and natural water courses,” Sharif was quoted as saying by his office on Saturday.
The Pakistani premier ordered the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and district administrations to continue rescue operations in the affected areas of Ghizer in GB, where a glacial lake outburst triggered a flood this week.
