ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday announced waiving power bills of flood-affected households for the month of August as the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has predicted fresh rains in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province between Sept. 15 and Sept. 19.
Rains, floods, land and mudslides have claimed 985 lives nationwide since late June, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The deluges have raised fears of a repeat of 2022 cataclysmic floods that killed more than 1,700 people and damaged crops, roads, bridges and rail infrastructure worth over $30 billion.
Citing the PMD on Sunday, the KP Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) predicted fresh rains in the province between Sept. 15 and Sept. 19, requesting authorities to take all precautionary measures in order to minimize human and livestock losses and damage to infrastructure.
“As you know, due to the recent heavy rains and landslides, there has been a lot of destruction in different parts of Pakistan,” PM Sharif said in televised comments on Sunday evening.
“In this context, I have taken the final decision that the electricity bills of all household electricity consumers in the flood-affected areas for one month, i.e. August, are being waived off, and thus, household consumers will no longer have to pay the bills for August.”
