Daily Times

The coalition government Monday approved the establishment of the National Flood Response and Coordination Center to provide an institutional response to the flood calamity. A third of Pakistan is under water as a result of flooding caused by record monsoon rains. Officials say at least 33 million people – one in every seven Pakistanis – have been affected by the floods, which have killed 1,136 people since the monsoon began in June. In order to review the situation, a meeting was held today under the chair of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, after which it was decided that the flood response centre will comprise of federal ministers, representatives of armed forces, chief ministers, and other experts. “The centre will serve as a bridge between disaster management authorities, donors and government institutions,” PM Shehbaz announced on his Twitter handle. He further added that the centre will collect and analyse the latest information and pass it on to the relevant government agencies. It will also oversee rescue and relief work including restoration of infrastructure. Tens of millions of people across swathes of Pakistan are battling the worst monsoon floods in a decade, with countless homes washed away, vital farmland destroyed, and the country´s main river threatening to burst its banks.