Rs40bn programme launched for backward districts damaged by floods: Ahsan Iqbal

• Ahsan Iqbal said the rehabilitation activities in the flood-affected areas might continue for two years in view of the scale of the devastation caused by the calamity.
• The minister for planning said the nation should stand united to lend a helping hand to the flood victims.
• He said future planning was also being done to deal with the issue of climate change.

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday said floods had severely damaged the backward areas, therefore a programme worth Rs40 billion had been launched for 20 most backward districts.

He said this while talking to the media anchorpersons at National Flood Response and Coordination Center in Islamabad.

Ahsan Iqbal said the rehabilitation activities in the flood-affected areas might continue for two years in view of the scale of the devastation caused by the calamity.

The minister for planning said the nation should stand united to lend a helping hand to the flood victims.  He said the provincial governments were leading the relief efforts. The armed forces while using their resources had actively participated in the relief activities, he said.

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He said future planning was also being done to deal with the issue of climate change.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Bloomberg, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has renewed call for urgent debt relief and aid to help Pakistan meet the unprecedented challenge posed by climate induced flooding.

He said Pakistan would be having a broader conservation with all its partners about restructuring Pakistan’s debt.

Alluding to the devastation caused by the floods, the foreign minister said rich nations responsible for global warming should help because Pakistan contributed 0.8% of the global carbon footprint but was the eighth-most climate-stressed country.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said Pakistan aspired to not only get out of this crisis, but hoping to build back in a greener and climate resilient way.