ISLAMABAD, Sept 13: US Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker inaugurated a Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) water management centre here on Wednesday. The US department of agriculture had extended a grant of Rs1.5 billion to the PPAF for the establishment the centre, which is first of its kind in Pakistan.

Also present on the occasion were the PPAF chairman Hussain Dawood, chief executive Kamal Hyat and Qazi Azmat Isa from the World Bank.

Mr Crocker felicitated the PPAF team for setting up the state- of-the-art water management facility and said this would prove to be very helpful in overcoming the water related problems in the country. He stated that PPAF was one of the best examples of public-private partnership.

He reiterated US commitment to providing assistance for the development of underprivileged areas in Pakistan.

The centre will act as a resource facility to incorporate water-focused interventions aimed at reducing chronic poverty and safeguarding against vulnerability owing to increasing water scarcity and water related disasters.

The centre will harness modern technologies such as satellite imagery in service of poverty reduction activities and will actively synergise with national institutions such as Suparco, Geological Survey of Pakistan and Meteorological Department to address drought mitigation and water resource management in a holistic manner.

The centre aims to implement 24 drought mitigation, 60 micro hydel and 750 water efficient irrigation projects which will impact more than 2.4 million people.

The centre will address issues of natural water related calamities such as droughts, floods, cyclones and tsunami in a coherent and systematic manner. The unit is envisioned to develop into a regional policy and technological hub for water related issues in South Asia.

The centre will employ its Geographical Information System (GIS) capability and multidisciplinary expertise in formulating national water management strategies, designing projects for implementation at the local level, and providing back-up professional support to partner organisations implementing these projects. Through the development and management of a modern early warning system, the centre will enable the vulnerable communities to take timely steps to mitigate potential flood and drought hazards.

The interventions designed and superintended by the centre will provide direct short- to medium-term benefits to the participating communities in terms of enhancing their capacity to combat droughts and protecting against flash floods which often follow droughts.

Through diffusion of technological innovations, the centre will ensure an increase in yield per litre of water used. While micro-hydel projects will provide clean and economical means of electric power to isolated communities in the mountainous areas. At the national level, the centre will play an important role in disseminating the lessons learnt and proposing commensurate policy changes and strategy modifications.