KARACHI: The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, has urged overseas Pakistanis to wage a “dam jihad” by generously sending funds to the “PM-CJ fund for Diamer Bhasha and Muhammad Dam.”
In his recorded address to the overseas Pakistanis, televised on state-run and private television channels here on Friday evening, Prime Minister Imran Khan said each of the overseas Pakistanis in Europe and the US should contribute at least $1,000 in the fund for dams, which can be built within five years.
“Those working in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East should send any amount they can contribute but Pakistanis in Europe and the US should send at least $1,000, which will not only help us build dams but also get dollars as we are facing shortage of them,” Khan told overseas Pakistanis, who, he said, numbered between eight and nine million. “That’s minimum, even more should be contributed.”
Dams are essential for the future of Pakistan, he said.
“We have 30 days’ water storage whereas a country like Egypt, which was once faced with worst water shortage, has storage capacity of 1,000 days.
“If we didn’t build dams, God forbid me, we will leave a hill of problems for our nation,” Khan said, adding the country could face complete drought by 2025.
“It’s not the Chief Justice’s job. It was the work of political leaders who should have thought for provision of the dam funds,” Khan said. PM said Rs180 crore were collected in the Chief Justice’s fund, which has now merged and will be called “PM-CJ fund for Diamer Bhasha and Muhammad Dam.”
“All Pakistanis, especially the overseas should contribute in the dam fund,” he said, adding that he had built and run hospital and university with the funding of overseas Pakistanis.
“No one has to give us a loan, we will have to make it on our own, and I assure you that I will protect your money and it will be spent on the dams only,” he pledged.
“There is no doubt that Pakistan is facing an acute water shortage for which Imran Khan has approached the overseas Pakistanis,” Aamir Latif, a Karachi-based analyst and journalist, told Arab News.
Latif is optimistic. “Given the fact that overseas Pakistanis have always been generous to send funds on Imran Khan’s appeals, they are likely to respond to his dams’ funds.
“The overseas Pakistanis had been funding Shaukat Khanum Hospital, the National University of Modern Languages and even sending election funds to the PTI, which is why PM Khan is sure that he will get a sizable amount. It will not only help the government build the dams but also bolster the rescinding foreign reserves,” he said.
However, others are not convinced.
Raza Rumi, a US-based Pakistani analyst, concurs that the PTI is the most popular of political parties among the overseas Pakistanis.
“Imran has high hopes from his followers abroad. Voluntary donations, however, can’t tackle the chronic issues faced by the country,” he said.
This is a populist measure and is hardly going to make an impact in terms of the serious challenges that Pakistan is facing, he said. adding: “The problem of water scarcity has less to do with dams and more to do with inefficient management of water resources.”
Similarly, Pakistan has billions of dollars’ foreign debt and it’s required to repay at least $16 billion as debt commitments within months.
“It is highly unlikely that oversees Pakistani will pay off even a fraction of this amount. It is also unfair to ask hardworking Pakistanis to compensate the excessive state expenditures, mismanagement and corruption.”
Shahab Osto, a water expert and petitioner who had moved the apex court over the issue of supply of contaminated water to Karachi, terms Imran Khan’s measure as “over-optimism” and with “no hopes of major impact.”
“Dams need a huge amount and can’t be built without going to the international financial institutions for funding,” Osto told Arab News.
“Public policy issues are resolved with financial feasibility not through just announcement,” Osto said, adding that the country had no water policy either and if he had ever heard of any plans to making it no such policy was made.
“Today’s address of the PM shows his over-optimism and I see it making no major impact,” he concluded.
PM Imran appeals overseas Pakistanis to wage ‘dam jihad’
PM Imran appeals overseas Pakistanis to wage ‘dam jihad’
- Analysts and experts are skeptical and say the call for voluntary donations may not leave any impact
- “The problem of water scarcity has less to do with dams and more to do with inefficient management of water resources,” argues Raza Rumi
Two high-speed trains derail in Spain, police sources say 21 people killed
- The accident happened near Adamuz, in Cordoba province. So far, 21 people have been confirmed dead by police
MADRID: A high-speed train derailed and smashed into another oncoming train in southern Spain on Sunday, pushing the second train off the tracks in a collision that police sources confirmed to Reuters had killed at least 21 people.
The accident happened near Adamuz, in Cordoba province. So far, 21 people have been confirmed dead by police, with state broadcaster Television Espanola adding that 100 people had been injured, 25 seriously. The driver of one of the trains, which was traveling from Madrid to Huelva, was among those who died, the TV station added.
“The Iryo 6189 Malaga — (to Madrid) train has derailed from the track at Adamuz, crashing onto the adjacent track. The (Madrid) to Huelva train which was traveling on the adjacent track has also derailed,” said Adif, which runs the rail network, in a social media post.
Adif said the accident happened at 6:40 p.m. (1740 GMT), about 10 minutes after the Iryo train left Cordoba heading toward Madrid.
Iryo is a private rail operator, majority-owned by Italian state-controlled railway group Ferrovie dello Stato. The train involved was a Freccia 1000 train which was traveling between Malaga and Madrid, a spokesperson for Ferrovie dello Stato said.
The company said in a statement that it deeply regretted what had happened and had activated all emergency protocols to work closely with the relevant authorities to manage the situation.
The second train was operated by Renfe, which also did not respond to a request for comment.
Adif has suspended all rail services between Madrid and Andalusia.
HORRIFIC SCENE
The Iryo train had more than 300 passengers on board, while the Renfe train had around 100.
Paco Carmona, Cordoba fire chief, told TVE the first train heading to Madrid from Malaga had been evacuated.
The other train’s carriages were badly damaged, he said, with twisted metal and seats. “There are still people trapped. We don’t know how many people have died and the operation is concentrating on getting people out of areas which are very narrow,” he said. “We have to remove the bodies to reach anyone who is still alive. It is proving to be a complicated task.”
Transport Minister Oscar Puente said he was following events from rail operator Adif’s headquarters in Madrid.
“The latest information is very serious,” he posted on X. “The impact was terrible, causing the first two carriages of the Renfe train to be thrown off the track. The number of victims cannot be confirmed at this time. The most important thing now is to help the victims.”
The mayor of Adamuz, Rafael Moreno, told El Pais newspaper that he had been among the first to arrive at the scene of the accident alongside the local police and saw what he believed to be a badly lacerated body several meters from the accident site.
“The scene is horrific,” he said. “I don’t think they were on the same track, but it’s not clear. Now the mayors and residents of the area are focused on helping the passengers.”
CALLS FOR MEDICS
Images on local television showed a reception center set up for passengers in the town of Adamuz, population 5,000, with locals coming and going with food and blankets amid nighttime temperatures of around 42 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius).
A woman named Carmen posted on X that she had been on board the Iryo train to Madrid. “Ten minutes after departing (from Cordoba) the train started to shake a lot, and it derailed from coach 6 behind us. The lights went out.”
Footage posted by another Iryo train passenger, also on X, showed an Iryo staffer in a fluorescent jacket instructing passengers to remain in their seats in the darkened carriages, and those with first aid training to keep watch over fellow passengers. He also urged people to maintain mobile phone batteries to be able to use their torches when they disembarked.
Salvador Jimenez, a journalist for RTVE who was on board the Iryo train, shared images showing the nose of the rear carriage of the train lying on its side, with evacuated passengers sitting on the side of the carriage facing upwards.
Jimenez told TVE by phone from beside the stricken trains that passengers had used emergency hammers to smash the windows and climb out, and they had seen two people taken out of the overturned carriages on stretchers.
“There’s a certain uncertainty about when we’ll get to Madrid, where we’ll spend the night, we’ve had no message from the train company yet,” he said. “It’s very cold but here we are.”
