PRCS to start 12 reconstruction projects in quake-hit areas
By Khalid Amin

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has planned to start 12 reconstruction projects in earthquake affected areas.
The Society has almost reconstructed nine projects that include school and college buildings and health infrastructure in the quake-affected areas. This was decided in a meeting chaired by PRCS Chairman Saeed Ahmed Qureshi here on Tuesday. Addressing on the occasion, he said the PRCS is engaged very actively in the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase in the earthquake-affected areas. He said the society has undertaken the challenging task ofreconstruction of 42 education, health and vocational trainingfacilities of worth Rs. 1 billion.
Qureshi said that extension of the Red Crescent cover to theundeserved areas has already been done in Tribal Areas and Northern Areas and would be extended to 114 districts, which are disasterprone. He said the main focus during next four years will be onimproving the speedy and adequacy of medical response, by trained manpower and better availability of ambulance service. Qureshi said relief and medical assistance worth Rs 249.40million has been provided to some 2.5 million beneficiaries in Sindhand Balochistan. The water and sanitation teams deployed in affected areas haveprovided an average of 300,000 liters of clean drinking water from water purification plants in the flood-affected areas.
PRCS Secretary General Khalid Kibriya presented a detailedpresentation of the PRCS future plans that included reconstructionand rehabilitation projects and programs in the earthquake effectedareas and strengthening of disaster management capabilities at national, provincial, regional and district level.
The meeting also discussed development of the PRCS’s National and Provincial Headquarters to enhance capacity, projects in various core areas, enlarging the trained volunteer base in various areasand their incorporation in follow-up activities at the district level, strengthening the existing district branches, extension ofPRCS emergency ambulance service to major cities and efficient blood transfusion services at PRCS branches. PRCS Director Operations Muhammad Ilyas Khan briefed the participants about the pace of work of reconstruction projects in the quake affected areas.