Resuscitating dam fund

The nationwide Resuscitating dam fund that was launched by the then chief justice of Pakistan with plenty of fanfare had gone south as with most public funded projects in the country. It was reported that the money collected for this fund was slightly more than Rs.16 billion and was lodged in accounts supervised lacking transparency. Despite being well intentioned, right from the word go this fund raising was considered misguided, simplistic and overly optimistic as construction of dams is too big for any donor drive and only state resources can provide such huge financial outlay. The drive did manage to collect sizeable money but then no one knew where the money was gone. Now to put negative questions about its transparency to rest, the incumbent chief justice has asked the auditor general to audit the fund forthwith in coordination with the State Bank. This action is reportedly reflected in the multiple assertions of the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly to summon former CJP to inquire about the state of the fund. This is a commendable development and will go a long way to establish transparency about funds generated for public projects. The fund should be utilised for much needed requirement of conserving water. TW

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