ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday has directed chief ministers of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to ensure temporary shelters to the homeless locals in a wake of severe cold weather.
In a post on social-networking website Twitter, the premier has said he has asked CMs of Punjab and KP to ensure that no person is left out without shelter.
The provincial administrations must take immediate action to provide temporary shelters and food for those who cannot be accommodated in existing Panagahs, he added.
Given the extremely cold weather conditions I have asked CMs of Punjab & KP to ensure that no person is left out without shelter; & their administrations must take immediate action to provide temporary shelters plus food for those who cannot be accommodated in existing Panagahs.
On the other hand, 25-year-old record on Sunday has been broken in Skardu as the cold wave has continued to grip various parts of Pakistan.
The small canals and ponds in Skardu have been frozen due to severe low temperature while the intermittent snowfall has also blocked the main connecting roads.
Fog has been reported in most plain areas of Punjab and upper Sindh while in few districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Smooth flow of road, rail and air traffic has been disrupted due to reduced visibility caused by fog.
The National Highways and Motorway police have advised commuters to avoid unnecessary travel and use Humsafar mobile app for quick information about major routes.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday has said that Pakistan is a land of unimaginable beauty, hidden natural wonders and untapped tourism potential.
Sharing a British travel magazine’s list of Pakistan’s most breathtaking natural wonders, he wrote to Twitter: “Pakistan is a land of unimaginable beauty, hidden natural wonders and untapped tourism potential.”
From magical Himalayan valleys to lunar landscapes of bubbling mud volcanoes, Wanderlust’s 2020 Hot List destination Pakistan offers a crowd-free extraordinary beauty at these natural wonders…
Attabad Lake, Hunza Valley, Saiful Muluk, Thar Desert, Deosai Plains, Trango Towers, Hingol National Park, Neelum Valley, and Baltoro Glacier figure on Wanderlust’s 2020 Hot List destination Pakistan offers.
Presiding over a high-level meeting on promotion of tourism on Dec 5, Prime Minister Khan had said Pakistan is emerging as an attractive destination on the international tourism map owing to its beautiful natural landscape.
“We must strive to capitalize this potential through expediting the infrastructure development, provision of services and facilitation,” he had stressed, adding Pakistan has diverse and rich tourism potential in terms of mountain tourism, adventure tourism, desert tourism and
religious tourism.
Highlighting the potential of religious tourism in Punjab and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the prime minister had directed that all the forms of tourism in the country must be focused simultaneously.
He said that the government rest houses have been built on tax payers’ money; these properties should be a source of income instead of lying useless.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan has summoned a session of the federal cabinet on December 31 (Tuesday).
As per details, the cabinet members will meet under the chair of PM Imran Khan on Tuesday to discuss 8-point agenda that includes: The overall political and economic situation of the country; The draft bill of the National College of Arts Institute will be present in the cabinet meeting; The handover of Sohail Ahmed to UK authorities; The appointment of Small and Medium Enterprises (SEMs) CEO; and The cabinet would be briefed on financial statistics.
The federal cabinet in its last meeting held on December 24 had rejected the removal of PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz’s name from the Exit Control List with consensus.
Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, while answering a question said that 24 cases pertaining to including and removing names of various people from ECL were presented before the cabinet, which approved placement of four names on ECL, removal of eight names, while a decision on eight other cases was deferred. She said there should be one and uniform law in Pakistan without any special treatment.
“A 21-point agenda was discussed in the federal cabinet session under the chair of PM Imran Khan where the government has given special instructions for providing relief to the needy people. The decisions taken by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on December 12 have been approved. The cabinet gave approval for the appointment of Farrukh Iqbal as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Women Bank, as well as 11 members of Pakistan Sports Board.” – NNI