
ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday declared national emergency to eliminate the attacking swarms of desert locust which are destroying crops on a large scale in Punjab after wiping out the same in Sindh.
The decision was taken at a meeting convened by Prime Minister Imran Khan at the PM Office. The meeting attended by federal ministers and senior officials of the four provinces also approved a national action plan (NAP) that requires a sum of Rs7.3 billion to overcome the crisis.
On the other hand, Min¬ister for National Food Security Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar informed the Nat¬io¬nal Assembly about the gravity of the situation and the steps so far taken by the federal and provincial governments to deal with the crisis.
During the meeting at the PM Office, which was also attended by Khusro and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Hafeez Shaikh, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Infor-mation Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) chairman Lt Gen Mohammad Afzal, a detailed briefing on the overall situation was given to the prime minister.
The meeting was informed that besides involving the officials concerned at the provincial and district levels, different tasks have been given to the NDMA, provincial disaster management authorities and federal and provincial departments to deal with the threat.
Prime Minister Khan ordered formation of a high-level committee to be headed by Khusro Bakhtiar to take decisions at the federal level for elimination of locust swarms. The NDMA chairman was made a focal person in this regard.
The prime minister directed the authorities concerned to make immediate measures on the basis of damage of ripened crops. “Protection of farms and farmers is the highest priority of the government. Therefore, the federal government should take all necessary steps to save national crops and provide required resources to the quarters concerned,” he was quoted as saying.
A source privy to the meeting told Dawn that the prime minister was informed that the food security ministry had four aircraft last month for spray of pesticides, but unfortunately one aircraft crashed two weeks ago in Rahim Yar Khan. The meeting decided to take some more aircraft on rent.
“A sum of Rs7.3bn is required to avoid further destruction,” he added.
He said a special plan was also being devised to kill locusts in KP. “Declaration of national emergency was eminent to handle the situation; besides, parliament must have a role in monitoring the situation,” he added.
(reliefweb.int)
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