Islamabad: A judicial commission has been formed to investigate breaches allegedly made in dykes in Punjab by certain influential people to save their land from flooding while at the same time leaving poor farmers to face the worst, the provincial chief minister said on Monday.
Shahbaz Sharif, speaking to reporters in Lahore, said the commission would visit the affected areas to fully investigate the matter and submit its report to the provincial government.
The chief minister said the rescue phase had been completed in the flood-hit areas of the province while the rehabilitation of millions of affected people was an even bigger challenge.
Punjab, the most populous province, has taken the lead in instituting an inquiry into breaches and the second largest province, Sindh, is likely to follow suit after recommendations by the federal government.
The worst monsoon floods in the country started six weeks ago and have rendered more than six million people homeless in the country and affected a total of around 20 million people in the provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochsitan, Gilgit-Batistan region and Kashmir.
More than 1,750 people have been killed and aid agencies have cautioned that millions more are still at risk of death if emergency food and shelter are not provided.
The government estimates losses at up to $7 billion (Dh25.7 billion) and slump in gross domestic product from a targeted 4.5 per cent to around 2.5 per cent during the current fiscal year.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani visited flood victims during the Eid holidays, assuring them the government would give top priority to their rehabilitation.
