Pakistanis in the country and from across the world have so far donated Rs7.97 billion for Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand Dams fund.
According to an update issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the countrywide contribution to the fund stood at Rs7.09 billion while the remaining Rs880.23 million were contributed by expatriate Pakistanis.
Pakistanis living in USA remained on top by donating Rs334.735 million, followed by UK from where a sum of Rs180.317 million was transferred to the dams fund so far.
Similarly, Rs120 million were contributed to the fund through SMS service of various cellular companies in the country.
Meanwhile, SBP, in a circular, directed the banks not to charge any service fee, including interchange fee, merchant discount rate, transaction fee, etc. on donations/payments made to the dam fund through payment cards, including debit, credit or prepaid cards.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, recently, in a statement, said that Pakistan needed Rs1500 billion to build Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand Dams to avert water crisis looming over the country.
The fund had been established by the SBP on the directions of the Supreme Court (SC). All the commercial and micro-finance banks and field offices of SBP Banking Services Corporation opened the fund account to receive donations in cash, cheques, pay orders and demand drafts at all their branches across the country.
The donors can also make online donations to the fund through internet banking, automatic teller machines (ATM) and other alternate delivery channels (ADC) using IBAN of their respective bank. The banks have sent the IBANs of the fund account to their clients through SMS alerts, while the bank-wise list of IBANs is also available at the SBP’s web page.
Citizens can also donate Rs10 to the dams fund by typing “dam” and sending the SMS to 8000 which will deduct the amount from the phone’s credit.
The donations can also be made through credit/debit cards from anywhere in the world by clicking the “Online collections for Supreme Court Diamer Bhasha & Mohmand Dam Fund” on the SBP’s web page.
The overseas Pakistanis with accounts in Pakistan can also make donations in the fund through the internet banking facility of their respective banks.