Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday gave in-principal approval to the merger of Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) into National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The decision was taken at the 14th meeting of the ERRA Council chaired by the prime minister and attended by Punjab Chief Minister Usman Bazdar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid, Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Abdul QayyumNiazi, National Assembly members Saleh Muhammad, Abdullah Khan and Chairman ERRA Lt Gen Akhtar Nawaz. The prime minister issued directives to hand over 2,200 completed projects of ERRA to the concerned provincial governments and departments and for early completion of 230 under-progress projects by the year’s end. He stressed considering proper guidelines of construction in areas on geological fault lines to sustain earthquakes. He also urged promotion of tourism in areas particularly northern areas, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. The meeting was briefed on the progress on New Balakot City and the handing over of unfinished projects to the provincial governments under ERRA. The prime minister directed to expedite the progress on New Balakot City as well as on the semi-completed projects.