NDMA sends 47-member team and 6.5 tonnes of aid to relieve cyclone damage
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said a dedicated search and rescue team was dispatched early Wednesday to support operations in affected areas of Sri Lanka.
A C-130 aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force carrying a team of 47 members along with 6.5 tonnes of essential equipment left to assist in the humanitarian and rescue efforts.
The departure ceremony of the relief consignment was attended by Federal Minister Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, NDMA Chairman Lt Gen Inam Haider Malik and Sri Lankan High Commissioner Fred Senevirathne.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Chaudhry said that NDMA remains fully committed to responding to disasters and mitigating their adverse effects both in Pakistan and affected countries abroad.
Senevirathne expressed gratitude to the people and government of Pakistan for the prompt provision of emergency assistance.
The NDMA further arranged for the shipment of relief supplies through Sri Lankan Airlines operating between Colombo and Lahore. Yesterday, in line with the Prime Minister’s special directive, the NDMA sent 200 tonnes of relief supplies to Sri Lanka by sea.
Relief items shipped include family tents, blankets, quilts, life jackets, inflatable boats, dewatering pumps, lamps, mats, mosquito nets, infant milk powder, ready-to-eat foods and essential medicines. Pakistan Navy ships and helicopters are actively participating in relief operations in Sri Lanka.
Read: Sri Lanka: Flood waters rise and death toll rises to 69
Following a special request from the President of Sri Lanka to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, NDMA is also sending temporary Pakistan Army bridges to support restoration and access efforts in affected areas.
Yesterday, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry reported that its humanitarian aid mission to Sri Lanka had been delayed by more than 60 hours due to India’s refusal to obtain full flight clearance.
The ministry said the partial permission granted by India on Sunday evening, after a 48-hour wait, was operationally impractical, being limited to just a few hours and not valid for the return journey.
The Foreign Ministry called the delay a “serious obstacle to this urgent relief mission” for the “brotherly people of Sri Lanka”.
India has denied all allegations that it blocked airspace for Pakistan’s humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka.
At least 153 people have been killed in Sri Lanka after landslides and floods caused by Cyclone Ditwah, another 191 people are missing and more than half a million people have been affected across the country.
According to the Disaster Management Center, more than 78,000 people have been transferred to nearly 800 relief centers, most of them set up in schools.
