By Mariam Raheem

 

ISLAMABAD, Sept 11 (Gwadar Pro) - The most severe flooding in 30 years has submerged large swathes of homes in Sukkur, Sindh province, leaving villagers without food sources. Learning this situation, the PKM project team led by China State Construction Engineering Group Co., Ltd. (CSCEC) promptly purchased a large number of local necessities such as rice, grain, oil and sugar, and distributed the relief food to 800 nearby poor victims free of charge, thus relieving the urgent needs of local people. 

 

Villagers are in desperate need of medical help in the aftermath of the floods, which have caused outbreaks of diarrhoea, skin infections, respiratory infections, malaria, dengue fever and other diseases. The PKM project team prepared about 500 boxes of various kinds of drugs for treating post-disaster epidemics, organised medical teams to visit nearby villages for free diagnosis, and carried out free medicine delivery activities to equip local villagers with the knowledge of post-disaster disease prevention, thus avoiding the occurrence of infectious diseases, and ensuring the physical health and food safety of the people in the flood-hit areas.

 

The first and second divisions of the PKM project, while completing their own rescue and relief efforts, and figuring out the local flood situation, sent a disaster relief team of 25 people, carrying 11 sets of large machinery and equipment, including loaders, dump trucks, excavators and pumps, to help nearby villages repair roads and divert floods.

 

After several days of emergency repairs, 30 kilometres of water-damaged roads were opened in four nearby villages to ensure unimpeded access to local disaster relief channels. The PKM project also has managers on duty 24 hours a day to patrol the surrounding dangerous areas and help local victims out of trouble. 

 

Amanullah, a flood victim, was extremely touched to see the busy figure of the relief team. “Thank our Chinese brothers and sisters for providing machinery and equipment for the village, draining floodwaters, and clearing our roads, and thank those who helped us in this difficult time,” he said.

 

Xiao Hua, head of the PKM project, said “the PKM project team will make full use of its advantages to ensure the unimpeded flow of the PKM highway during the floods, maintain a valuable rescue and escape route for the Pakistani people, and make every effort to support local flood fighting and disaster relief, and help the Pakistani people rebuild their homes.”

 

The PKM highway project stretches 392 kilometres from Sukkur in Sindh Province in the south to Multan, the economic centre of Punjab Province in the north.

 

The CSCEC Representative Office has also donated Rs 600,000 to flood-affected people through the All-Pakistan Chinese Enterprises’ Association to support the local government’s flood relief efforts.

 

This article originally appeared on Gwadar Pro.