Pakistan digitizes flood relief assistance to bring transparency

Islamabad [Pakistan], September 12 (ANI): Amid reports of corruption, Pakistan has digitized flood relief assistance and distribution activity in a bid to ensure transparency.
It will now be operated digitally with the Digital Flood Dashboard as per the directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, reported Geo News.
The digital dashboard will keep the general public informed about foreign flood relief being received and distributed among victims. The decision was made in a meeting chaired by the premier on Saturday.
The latest technology is used in creating a digital flood dashboard to provide all details about relief activities and receipt and distribution of goods and assistance.
The prime minister also announced that the financial aid audit for flood victims would be conducted by the Accountant General Pakistan Revenue (AGPR) and the world’s reputable audit firms to ensure transparency, reported Geo News.
He also reviewed the restoration of services in affected areas and called for expediting the rehabilitation of roads, bridges and power supply. He directed the provision of basic necessities of life to the victims.
Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail has said the government had provided Rs 70 billion for the relief and rehabilitation of flood-affected people, reported Geo News.
Talking to the media Ismail said that another Rs 50 billion would be provided to the affected people. He said that every penny received from abroad would be audited internally and externally. He also said that 33 million people were living under the open sky.
“The prime minister would soon hold meetings with industrialists and business people,” he said, adding that APTMA had deposited Rs 400 million into the Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund and it would donate another Rs1 billion, reported Geo News.
Federal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique expressed gratitude to all countries that have helped Pakistan in its time of difficulty. APTMA leader Dr Gohar Ejaz said that the association would also donate 150,000 ration bags to flood victims, reported Geo News.
Meanwhile, the death toll from floods in Sindh surged to 621 as 12 more people died during the last 24 hours on Sunday.
As floods swept away the Chak-Nizam bridge, the first defence line of Dadu, authorities Sunday launched Plan B under which a dyke is being constructed along the embankments of the Burda Canal to protect the city.
Heavy machinery is being used to build a dyke up to 15 feet high, authorities said, adding that flash floods from the Manchar Lake had breached the Dadu ring bund, posing a threat to the city, reported Geo News.
The water level in Manchar Lake, the nation’s largest freshwater lake, is continuously rising. Rising floodwaters have washed away the first defence line of the city of over one million people, forcing the administration, backed by army troops, to strengthen the remaining embankments.
Thousands of people have been lodged in tents or are waiting for shelter under open skies along the main highway that leads to Hyderabad. Either side of the highway could be seen inundated by floodwater for miles.
Hundreds of citizens were seen leaving the city on mini-trucks, vans and rickshaws. Many others along with their livestock were also spotted trudging along the road under the baking sun, reported Geo News.
The huge flooding also forced the administration to shift nearly 400 prisoners from the Dadu district jail to the Hyderabad prison.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, taking notice of a possible threat to a 500KV grid station in Dadu from floods, directed for utilisation of all resources to protect the grid station.
He directed civil and military high-ups to immediately save the grid station from being affected by floods, the PM Office media wing said. (ANI)