ISLAMABAD, September 10: Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Monday called on Chief Justice Saqib Nisar at the Supreme Court to present a cheque of Rs1,005.99 million as the army’s donation to the Diamer-Basha and Mohmand Dams Fund set up by the apex court, according to a statement issued by the SC.
In July, the armed forces of Pakistan had announced they would
contribute funds for the construction of the Diamer-Basha and Mohmand dams.
“The officers of army, navy and air force will contribute their two days’ pay, while soldiers [will be donating] one day’s pay to the announced fund for this national cause,” the military’s spokesperson had said.
Last week, Prime Minister Imran Khan spoke to the nation in a brief televised address to appeal for donations to the dams fund set up by the Supreme Court.
“When Pakistan was made, every Pakistani had 5,600 cubic metres of water. Today, that stands at only 1,000 cubic metres.”
“We have storage capacity of only 30 days for water when the safe period for water storage is 120 days. India has a capacity of 90 days. This is why making the dam for us is so important.”
Warning of the rapid depletion in Pakistan’s water resources, the premier said the country would face drought-like conditions by 2025 if immediate steps were not taken.
“I want to commend Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar [for starting the dams fund], but this was not his job,” he had said. “This was the job of civilian leaders who knew this was going to swell into a crisis but did nothing to thwart it.”
“I want to take over the fund-raising and want overseas Pakistanis to contribute like they used to do for the Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital, he had said. – Agencies
