Unsatisfied PM Shehbaz refuses to launch Digital Flood Dashboard

• PM Shehbaz Sharif to inaugurate digital dashboard next Monday.
• PM points out shortcomings in design, calls for further improvements.
• “We should design dashboard which whole nation should be proud of.”

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Monday refused to inaugurate the real-time dashboard for flood victims and expressed dissatisfaction over its performance.

The prime minister was scheduled to inaugurate a dashboard for real-time monitoring of flood victims' aid in Islamabad, but he refused to inaugurate it as he was left unsatisfied with the dashboard's performance.

PM Shehbaz then directed the authorities concerned to improve the flood relief digital dashboard by adding more required features, believing that a dashboard of international standards would ensure better coordination among institutions and enhance the country’s credibility.

The prime minister, in a briefing on the dashboard being developed to provide real-time information about flood relief support and its usage, issued instructions to add more features like the weather alert and others to make it 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, who will formally inaugurate the facility next Monday after it has been revamped. 

The prime minister exemplified a dashboard on dengue outbreak by the Punjab government during his stint as chief minister, which he said had got international recognition as it contained all the relevant information like hotspots and the provided facilities.

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.

PM Shehbaz said the flood relief dashboard must contain all the relevant information about every item where the relief items like quilts and baby food were sent and where they came from.

He said the government would provide all required support for the development of the dashboard, which should not be a makeshift arrangement but rather a facility usable even for decades.

Speaking on the occasion before the PM, Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal stressed the need to prepare ourselves for dealing negative impacts of climate change.

The minister said the dashboard that is being developed would help us dealing any future disaster management through an efficient coordination mechanism.