Pak military choppers, boats deployed for flood relief

Pakistan today deployed military choppers and boats for relief and rescue operations in the flood-hit northern region, where monsoon rains and flash floods have affected 300,000 people and washed away villages.
At least three persons have died, and several houses destroyed in the mountainous Chitral district if the Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province which borders Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, accompanied with KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, today undertook an aerial survey of the devastation in the area.
According to the National Disaster Management Authority, several bridges, homes, roads have been washed away in the torrential rains. Rescuers were finding it difficult to reach the cut-off areas.

It said about 300,000 people have been hit by the flooding and monsoon rain. Pakistan Air Force C-130 has been dispatched to Chitral carrying family food packets.
According to officials, some areas of Chitral were still inaccessible via road but army has deployed helicopters to provide food and water to people.

Army Engineers Corps was restoring roads and repairing broken bridges.
Sharif, after his survey, announced an aid of Rs 500 million for flood-relief operations in Chitral, The Express Tribune reported.
Dawn reported that this was the first visit of any premier to the area in 16 years and that Sharif faced a large sloganeering crowd on his arrival at Chitral's Kuragh area.

Pakistan has experienced serious inundations over the years that killed scores of people and wiped out villages. The worst flooding occured in 2010.
Flooding has also been reported from Gilgit-Baltistan region of the PoK and Pakistan's Punjab province.