TANK: The federal government has distributed compensation cheques worth Rs one million each among five families of those who lost their lives in recent floods in Tank, D.I.Khan and South Waziristan districts. The cheques were handed over the the heirs of the deceased persons by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lieutenant General Akhtar Nawaz here on Thursday following the directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The NDMA also handed over the five trucks of relief goods including food items, tents, blankets and other necessary items to the district administration for distribution among the flood affectees. Speaking on the occasion, the NDMA Chairman said the federal government and the NDMA were standing by the affected people during this testing time. He said the authority, following the directives of the prime minister, was distributing relief goods among 500 affected families. Pakistan was among the countries having affects of climate change. Pakistan was the eighth top country in the world having most effects of natural calamities with two major challenges of monsoon and earthquakes, he added. He said the Meteorological department had predicted 25 to 30 percent more rains during this season. The authority has made a contingency plan and also directed other departments concerned at provincial, district and local level to make their own plans in that regard. He said this time four major indicators of climate change were witnessed including early arrival of summer season and minimum period of spring season; four major heat waves were witnessed due to which the forests caught fire in different areas; monsoon started soon and more rains poured in during this season; even those areas witnessed more rains which had very minimum chances in past. The NDMA chairman expressed his grief and sorrow over the loss of lives and properties in the recent floods. He lauded the steps taken by the federal and provincial governments for helping the flood affected people. He also appreciated the district administration led by Deputy Commissioner Hameed Ullah Khattak for its prompt response during flood which help minimizing the loss. He said the media also played important role in creating awareness among the people and urged upon the journalists to continue their role for creating awareness about climate change so that the loss could be avoided at maximum level. Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Director General Sharif Hussain, speaking on the occasion, thanked the NDMA chairman for visiting flood affected area of tank and distributing relief goods and compensation cheques. He said the chief minister had also visited the affected areas and conveyed message to the people that they should not feel alone as the government was always with them. He said the chief minister had also distributed the cheques worth Rs 0.8 million each among the heirs of the deceased persons. Earlier, the deputy commissioner briefed the officials of NDMA and PDMA about the recent flood and the losses caused by it. Later, while talking to media, the NDMA chairman informed that so far 54 people had lost their lives in recent floods across the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said the compensation cheques had been given to five families while the compensation amount would also be given to other affected families.