Ahsan Iqbal, the Pakistani minister of planning and development has announced a shutdown of the National Flood Response Center (NFRC), saying that the rehabilitation process will be carried out under a new format to build a climate-resilient and adaptable infrastructure.
Recall that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif established the NFRCC in August to better articulate and synergize flood relief efforts during the rescue, relief and rehabilitation/reconstruction activities amid devastating floods in the country.
Speaking about damages incurred due to floods, Iqbal said that a framework has been prepared to make Pakistan a climate-resilient country. The framework will also be presented to the international community for their support, he added while speaking at the National Flood Response Center in Islamabad.
speaking further, the PML-N leader pointed out that the Centre, federating units, armed forces and other institutions successfully tackled the immediate challenge posed by the recent devastating floods. As a result of this synergy, we managed to mitigate the effect of the catastrophe.
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The minister further pointed out that the floods caused damage of over $30 billion, which is 10% of the country’s GDP. He said Balochistan and Sindh provinces witnessed the worst destruction. He urged donors to continue to help the flood victims until the complete rehabilitation of the affectees.
He maintained that Pakistan is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and help is being sought from the international community to cope with this challenge.
It will also be recalled that on Dec 1, Ahsan Iqbal announced that Pakistan is all set to share a framework based on Resilient, Recovery, Reconstruction, and Rehabilitation (4RFs) with international partners before it formally presents the document at Donors Conference.
Story was adapted from Geo News.
