Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has formed a 13-member committee to design strategies for strengthening Pakistan’s resilience against extreme weather events such as flash floods, cloudbursts, and urban flooding.
The committee will be chaired by Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal and will include ministers, secretaries, experts, and stakeholders from across the country to ensure broad-based representation.
This step follows devastating floods in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Gilgit-Baltistan that have killed more than 840 people since June and damaged infrastructure, homes, and agricultural land.
The committee will review disaster preparedness, evaluate infrastructure, and recommend measures to reduce environmental and urban vulnerabilities. It will also explore climate finance options and propose legal steps to curb deforestation.
Its Terms of Reference cover assessing flood protection and drainage systems, improving early warning mechanisms, installing modern radars, and enhancing the capacity of federal and provincial disaster management authorities, including the NDMA.
Additionally, a special policy dialogue forum has been created to engage provincial governments, civil society, and media. It will meet fortnightly to develop short-, medium-, and long-term strategies for disaster risk reduction.