Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has officially announced the imposition of a climate and agricultural emergency in the country, aimed at dealing with the recent floods and climate disasters beside stabilising the agriculture sector.
This announcement was made during a meeting of the federal cabinet, in which the Prime Minister said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and Punjab have been severely affected by the recent monsoon rains and flooding, while more than 1,000 people have died.
The Prime Minister warned that the flood tide is now moving towards Sindh, where urgent measures are needed to prevent a possible disaster. He said, “Not only the federation, but all the provinces will have to play a role together to deal with the floods.”
The Prime Minister announced the formation of an important committee under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, which will include federal ministers, chief secretaries of the four provinces and officers of the relevant departments. This committee will work on assessing the losses in the affected areas, taking immediate relief measures and formulating long-term policies.
Describing climate change as a “national emergency”, the Prime Minister said that decline in agricultural production, severe weather and natural disasters are now becoming the norm, and a joint national strategy is necessary to deal with them.
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