Lahore: Alkhidmat Foundation Pakistan has so far spent more than Rs250 million on rescue and relief operations in flood-affected areas across the country, according to its president, Professor Dr. Hafeezur Rehman.

Professor Dr. Hafeezur Rehman said that over 3,000 trained volunteers of the organisation were actively engaged in relief activities in the affected districts of Buner, Bajaur, Battagram, Swat, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. 'Our volunteers have so far rescued and shifted 408 people to safe locations,' he added.

Prof. Dr. Hafeezur Rehman said that six mobile health units were providing medical assistance in flood hit regions, while doctors and paramedical staff from other cities had also been deployed. In addition, 18 ambulances were engaged in transporting patients to nearby hospitals.

Alkhidmat has been distributing cooked food, ration packs and clean drinking water to affected families since the first day of flooding. Volunteers are also removing debris from houses and roads with hand tools, though Prof. Dr. Hafeezur Rehman stressed that government machinery was urgently required to accelerate this process.

He noted that a large number of houses had been destroyed in Bajaur, Buner and Battagram, and assured that Alkhidmat would continue its relief work until the complete rehabilitation of the victims. Earlier, the foundation had also dispatched shrouds and coffins to the affected areas to ensure dignified burials of those who lost their lives.

'Pakistan contributes little to climate change, yet it is among the countries most severely affected by its consequences,' Prof. Dr. Hafeezur Rehman remarked. He appealed to philanthropists and the general public to come forward and support their fellow citizens in this difficult time.

Alkhidmat Foundation reiterated its commitment to stand by the flood affected families until their full rehabilitation