The launch of the dashboard has been deferred to next Thursday when the prime minister is scheduled to meet with representatives of friendly countries and international organizations extending flood relief support to brief them about the latest situation and country’s future needs.
Plans to launch a Flood Relief Dashboard to monitor and coordinate the distribution of relief and rehabilitation work following unprecedented floods in Pakistan have met with a roadblock.
Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif interrupted a briefing on the dashboard on Monday to direct authorities to add more features like a weather alert. He spoke at length of a similar dashboard that the Punjab government had employed during his stint as chief minister of the province. He said that the dashboard had received accolades from across the world as it gave information like hotspots and the facilities people could access.
Shehbaz Sharif said that he wanted a dashboard of international standards that would ensure better coordination among institutions and enhance the credibility of the relief operation.
The prime minister said that Pakistan needed a “world class” platform containing all relevant information.
“We should design a dashboard which the whole nation should be proud of,” said the prime minister.
He pointed out the shortcomings in the design and called for further improvements to enable it to meet the nation’s needs and effectively reflect the coordinated efforts being made by the government for relief and rehabilitation of the flood-stricken people.
Sharif said the flood relief dashboard must contain all the relevant information about every item where the relief items like quilts and baby food was sent and also mention where the relief goods came from.
He said the government would provide all required support for development of the dashboard which should not be a makeshift arrangement rather a facility usable even for decades.
The launch of the dashboard has been deferred to next Thursday when the prime minister is scheduled to meet with representatives of friendly countries and international organizations extending flood relief support to brief them about the latest situation and country’s future needs.
Around 80,000 more tents are required in the flood-hit areas, according to the National Disaster Management Authority of Pakistan.
Pakistan leads the world in the production of tents.
The NDMA chairman said that people had prioritized food over health and shelter which necessitated measures to arrange food for the flood survivors.
According to the National Flood Response Coordination Centre, the flood water was stagnant in two districts of Balochistan and the water situation had improved by some 70 per cent since 31 August. The centre says that it will take another two to three weeks to recede water.
Image: Rukhsana Foundation Lahore
