Gen Kayani visits Swat, Nowshera
By Iftikhar A. Khan
Sunday, 01 Aug, 2010
Gen Kayani took 17 ill and elderly people from Kalam with him in his helicopter.File photo
ISLAMABAD: Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani took part in the relief and rescue operation in flood-affected areas on Saturday. He took 17 ill and elderly people from Kalam with him in his helicopter.
Gen Kayani, who visited Nowshera and Swat to personally monitor the flood situation, said that the authorities concerned must expedite rescue and relief work and move the stranded people to safe places.
Talking to reporters, military spokesman Maj-Gen Athar Abbas said the army chief had called Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, telling him that he feared more areas of the province could be inundated.
Mr Abbas, who along with Director General of Engineers at the GHQ, Major-General Imran, visited the flood-hit areas, said that unprecedented flooding in the Kabul and Swat rivers had caused inundation in Pabbi, Charsadda, Nowshera, Swat and Malakand division.
The situation has further aggravated after heavy flooding in the Indus River.
He said the situation in Nowshera was alarming where all major bridges had been washed away. He said the Peshawar-Charsadda road and motorway bridge over Jundal Nullah had been damaged.
Mr Abbas said the army had deployed 30,000 troops in the flood-affected areas and was using 21 helicopters and 43 boats. He said so far 19,000 people had been rescued.
Meanwhile, the ISPR said that 3,000 people had been rescued in Swat, 2,000 in Tank, 3,000 in Risalpur and 3,450 in Nowshera, Charsadda and Pabbi.
Major-General Imran while answering a question said though another spell of rain and thunderstorm was likely from Sunday, there was no threat to major bridges.