News Analysis |
Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed shock over the loss of lives and large scale damage to standing crops owing to widespread rains across the country. It is important to mention here that continuous rains have severely damaged standing crops in Punjab and other provinces. Recently, there have been various reports on electronic as well as social media suggesting a heavy loss caused by rains.
According to PM’s spokesperson Nadeem Afzal Chan, he [PM] is well aware of the damage the recent rainfall has caused to wheat and other crops and that the government equally shared the grief of the people affected by the rains. He said the relevant government departments have been directed to take measures in this regard.
Prime Minister Imran Khan was in opposition at that moment raised voice for the most affected people and demanded the government to compensate for the loss.
Deaths Caused by Rain
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in a report had said at least 49 people were killed and 176 others injured in rain-related incidents. It said floods caused by the rains wreaked havoc across the country. According to the report, 15 people were killed in Punjab, 14 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11 in Baluchistan and five in Sindh. At least 52 houses were damaged in Baluchistan alone.
Govt. to Estimate Farmers’ Losses
It is pertinent to mention here that earlier the provincial Agriculture Minister Malik Nauman Ahmad Langrial has said 35,000 acres of wheat and corn crop have been devastated owing to the recent spell of heavy rains and hailstorm across the province. The official assessment of the damages caused to the crops, which were ready to harvest, and the losses suffered by farmers will be conducted soon, Langrial said on Thursday.
Read more: Sindh Government is destroying Wheat after Sugarcane: PTI
Food Minister Samiullah Chaudhry also visited districts of Lahore, Kasur, Multan, and Bahawalpur to review the destruction of crop fields. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has also summoned a cabinet meeting to discuss the matter as farmers have been demanding from the government to compensate for the loss.
CM Buzdar earlier tweeted and urged citizens to pray that the rain stops so that people’s wheat and other crops do not get affected anymore. This is not for the first time that rains have hit the farmers in Pakistan. The worst sort of destructions caused by heavy rains was seen in 2010 and 2013.
Read more: Sugarcane farmers lose battle against powerful mill owners
Prime Minister Imran Khan was in opposition at that moment raised voice for the most affected people and demanded the government to compensate for the loss. Now he has been reminded through his previous tweets on social media that “ you are the PM, please come and listen to the poor farmers who have lost their standing crops.”