RAWALPINDI: The district administration on Tuesday put the civic body, Rescue 1122 and hospitals on red alert to deal with any emergency on polling day.

With rain expected on Wednesday, Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) has chalked out a comprehensive plan to avoid a flood-like situation in the city.

Wasa Managing Director Raja Shaukat Mehmood told Dawn that emergency staff had been asked to remain on duty to deal with any emergency. He said the city was divided into four sectors and four teams would remain on alert.

He said necessary machinery has been deployed in the low-lying areas, especially around Leh Nullah, to stop water logging. He said staff had also been deployed around polling stations to avoid water logging.

On the other hand, the caretaker government has canceled vacations of doctors and paramedical staff in three government-run hospitals – Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital.

The Punjab health department has issued directives to arrange lifesaving drugs, blood bags, and allocate 30 to 40 beds in each of the three hospitals.

Outdoor patient departments, however, will remained closed on Wednesday but the emergency department will remain open. The dengue wards will open to check new patients.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2018