LAHORE: The provincial government has allocated record Rs1.5 billion in budget for fiscal year 2015-16 for coping with the natural catastrophes
Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Director General Jawad Akram, while addressing a press conference, has said that Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has also assured the authority of providing more funds in case of any emergency.
Jawad Akram said that representatives of SUPARCO and other software engineers in PDMA Punjab have been assigned pre-monsoon arrangements duties. Information will also be received about rains through satellite before time so that planning could be made regarding relief in future, he said, adding that the PDMA has decided to get the help of SUPARCO in order to monitor situation of all the rivers of the province through satellite.
The PDMA director general said that a modern software has also been developed through which information will be obtained regarding flow of water and its impact on the surrounding areas. He said that the PDMA has also established six warehouses with the cooperation of European Union in Lahore and Muzaffargarh, with cold storage having capacity of storing over 7500 metric tons of essential commodities and precautionary measures have also been taken at district and tehsil level.