Kalabagh Dam may have caused more damage: Hoti
Says reopening of KKH top priority
Thursday, August 12, 2010
By our correspondent
MANSEHRA: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti Wednesday said that had Kalabagh Dam been built it might have caused 10 times more damages than the current losses due to floods.
He was talking to the flood-affected people in Battagram and Pattan tehsil of Kohistan district. Senior ministers Bashir Ahmad Bilour, Rahimdad Khan and Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain were also accompanying him.
Hoti said that instead criticising federal and provincial governments, the opposition parties should extend support to the government to cope with such a large-scale devastation caused by the flash floods.
The ruling and opposition parties should unite and show national spirit and patriotism to cope with the tragedy as the government alone cannot cope with the devastation, the chief minister said. He added that reopening of the Karakoram Highway and restoration of electricity supply infrastructure in Kohistan was top priority of government.
He said criticising the government was easy but serving the humanity selflessly within limited resources was an uphill task and the government was making all-out efforts to serve the flood victims.
Hoti said the compensation amount to the families of flood victims and injured would be paid soon. He said the stranded people in the province would not be left at the mercy of weather. We are working on war footing to open the blocked roads and supply the food by helicopter service, he said.
The flood affectees apprised the chief minister of their miseries caused by continued blockade of the Karakoram Highway. They said there was severe shortage of food and stranded people were still at the mercy of the inclement weather. They asked the chief minister to order immediate reopening of the KKH.
Kalabagh Dam may have caused more damage: Hoti