ISLAMABAD, Sep 1 (APP): Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday said due to the devastating floods, the country has suffered Rs. 350 to Rs. 500 billion or $ 4-6 billion worth of damages of infrastructure, livestock and crops.Pakistan’s economy grew by 4.1% during the last year and was expected to grow by 4.5% during the current fiscal year (2010-11), he said, adding, the damage caused by the floods will bring down the real GDP growth to 2.5% for the FY 2010-11. The Prime Minister said the floods affected 79 districts of Pakistan including 24 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 12 in Punjab, 19 in Sindh, 10 in Balochistan, 7 in AJK and 7 in Gilgit-Baltistan. The Prime Minister admired the courage and fortitude of the people visited by him in flood affected areas and reiterated the government’s enduring commitment to the relief and rehabilitation efforts till the last person is properly rehabilitated. He urged the nation and the relief operation authorities to expedite efforts to help the fellow countrymen. The Prime Minister said as per the initial damage assessments of UN Agencies and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) an estimated crop area of 1.38 million acres has been completely washed away. Over 1.2 million homes have been destroyed, rendering over 7.5 million people displaced. The floods have resulted in the largest number of people migrating since country’s independence, he added. Gilani said about 1000 bridges and over 400 km of long roads have been damaged, re-construction of which would cost Rs. 8 to 9 billion, adding, one-fifth of our irrigation infrastructure, livestock and crops have been destroyed. PEPCO has initially estimated an accumulated loss of Rs. 4 billion to its installations. In most of the areas grid stations, transformers and transmission lines have been damaged. WAPDA and PEPCO cumulative losses exceed Rs. 13 billion. The actual figures may be higher once the physical survey is carried out, he added. The Prime Minister said out of 968 health facilities assessed, over 517 have been damaged, adding, 10685 schools are damaged; federalized roads worth Rs. 6 billion and Railways worth Rs. 2.9 billion are damaged as well. He said overall performance of agriculture, consequently, will be much lower this year and the year ahead. This loss will have a snowball effect on manufacturing, services and export sectors. Most families face a real risk of income and employment losses. Food security of the country is also under threat, he added. The Prime Minister said the inflation target of 9.5% for FY 2010-11 will be missed and it is apprehended that it may hit the range of 15-20%. Inflation in the short term (1-3 months) is likely to spike significantly in the face of shorter supply (due to crop destruction), he added. He said the inflation will occur in daily use items such as vegetables, spices, lentils, fruits, meat and milk products, adding, medium term inflation (4-8 months) will rise due to spike in prices of wheat, rice and sugar until the next harvest. The Prime Minister said faced with the monumental crisis, the Government has been able to collect Rs. 2 billion in the PM’s Relief Funds, adding, a total of US $ 953.7 million has been pledged by donors out of which US $ 142.47 million has been received so far. He said the government through NDMA has provided essential drugs and medicines to cover the health needs of 2.5 million people affected by the floods. This includes 200 Emergency Health Kits, 152 Cholera Kits, 1.8 million Water Purification Tablets, 400,000 Blankets, 7167 tons of food items and 200,000 tents, he added. The Prime Minister said over 1,349,000 people have been rescued by helicopters and boats by our valiant army personnel. American helicopters have also played a key role in the relief efforts. Different mobile clinics have been set up to provide support of tens of thousands affected by the disaster, he added. Gilani said 60 flood affected districts in all the four provinces shared disaster surveillance data, adding, WHO through its health partners is providing essential medicines and medical supplies in many of the recent flood affected provinces, which includes Emergency Health Kits, Diarrhea Kits, Trauma Kits worth US $ 1.5 million. A total of 515,696 Acute Diarrhea cases, 531,660 ARI, 704,677 skin diseases and 100,970 malaria cases have been reported from all over, for which 3,806,804 medical consultations have been given, he added. The Prime Minister informed the cabinet that Health Cluster coordination was activated at 5 hubs - Islamabad, Peshawar, Multan, Sukkur, Quetta; Federal Task Force on diarrhea disease was activated; 72 Diarrheal Treatment Center (DTCs) planned for 44 districts of which 20 DTCs centers have been established while 52 are in process; Disease Early Warning System (DEWS): Presently a total of 479 fixed health centers and 544 mobile outreach camps are reporting from the affected areas; 33,222 Lady Health Workers are engaged in flood relief activities in 57 districts of the country; and Ministry of Health has mobilized its EPI programme to vaccinate all children under 5 years and pregnant women. Gilani said the disaster devastation impact has been felt at the international level and Secretaries-General of the United Nations and OIC have visited Pakistan, adding, the UN has declared Pakistan’s flood as the biggest emergency on the earth. The Prime Minister said the Government of Pakistan has also utilized all available resources for its flood victims, adding, so far, Government of Pakistan provided Emergency Relief Assistance worth Rs. 2102 million. Payment of Rs. 20,000 to each beneficiary shall come to Rs. 40 billion, he said, adding, the BISP shall be paying, additionally, Rs.12,000 per beneficiary over a period of three months. Gilani said it calls for a gigantic effort on the part of the government to confront the situation and bail the economy out of this crisis. “Priorities have to be re-determined; expenditures have to be cut down, funds have to be diverted and belts have to be tightened. Many new development initiatives will have to be put off and resources re-directed towards re-construction efforts”, he added. The Prime Minister said the government will also mobilize external and internal resources to meet expenditure on re-construction at least for the next 3 years. In order to handle the disaster in a holistic and systematic way (from rescue and relief operations to reconstruction and rehabilitation), a comprehensive way forward has been chalked out by NDMA which will be based on the Damage and Need Assessment (D&NA) carried out by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB), he added. Highlighting some features of the plan, the Prime Minister said the relief process which was initially planned uptill 30th October, is now likely to prolong upto 6 months; early recovery process will be completed by 30th December by the Government of Pakistan and concerned stakeholders; damage and need assessment will be done by World Bank and ADB, which will be completed by 30th September; Government of Pakistan will undertake a resource mobilization plan, likely to continue till the culmination of R&R process (to be initiated by Government of Pakistan by 1st December); and based upon the Damage Need Assessment (DNA), the Economic Affairs Division will organize an international donors conference to be held in late October/November. He said the government is also planning to build medium and small dams on a priority to harness the excesses of water, adding, some of the planned Mega Dams like Diamer-Bhasha will also be prioritized for construction.