ISLAMABAD: Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has said that do not put the burden of your deeds on Allah, rain is Allah’s mercy. The real cause of the losses is the construction of housing societies and construction on the lands of drains and rivers. Everything should not be destroyed while waiting for a big dam, small dams should be built.

Speaking in the National Assembly, Khawaja Asif said that the main reason for the huge losses due to the floods is the construction in the waterways, commercial constructions were done on the waterways, people have built houses on the lands of drains, hotels have been built on the waterways, there are settlements on the river path in Sialkot, the river path was occupied and housing societies were built on its lands, which increased the losses.

He said that dams were built during the era of dictators, it takes ten to fifteen years to build big dams like Bhasha, Diamer and Mohmand. Everything should not be wasted while waiting for big dams. Small dams should be built. Every village should have its own small dam. A national action plan should be made. PTI has talked about building Momal Dam, it must be built. Rain is a mercy from Allah. It is wrong to call it a natural disaster. Do not put the burden of our deeds on Allah. It is our mistake to build in the path of water.

The Defense Minister said that political parties consider local bodies as a tool to strengthen themselves. The last local body elections were held in 2015. The history of local body elections in any country does not go back and forth, but here it is not known when the local body elections will be held. Like the political system, the local body system should be strengthened so that the people get relief.