Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Chairman National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Lieutenant General Omar Mehmood Hayat on Wednesday stressed the need for enhanced inter-agency coordination and improved early warning arrangements on water inflow from Eastern and Western rivers so that timely and effective response may be initiated to avoid losses.

The chairman expressed these views while chairing an inter-agencies meeting for floods mitigation. Chairman Federal Flood Commission (FFC) Engineer Ahmed Kamal, Director Pakistan Metrological Department (PMD) Dr. Muhammad Hanif, Director Federal Floods Forecasting Division, Joint Director Pakistan Commission for Indus Water (PCIW) and Member Operation NDMA also participated in the meeting. The participants updated the Chairman NDMA on the arrangements made and initiatives undertaken by their respective departments for the flood mitigation during the current monsoon season.

While addressing the meeting Chairman NDMA observed that along with the flood hazards from heavy rainfall in catchment areas and glacial melt, release of waters from across the borders in eastern and western rivers like Kabul, Chenab, Jhelum and Indus was the major vulnerability. He said that as an upper riparian neighbour India should cooperate by timely information sharing on water outflow from its rivers and actual rainfall recorded as stipulated in the Indus Water Treaty.

He also urged Pakistan Commission for Indus Water (PCIW) to enhance coordination mechanism of Early Warning Arrangements for release of water, especially, from the Eastern Rivers so that timely and effective response for flood mitigation may be initiated by relevant stakeholders. Lt. Gen Omar was of the view that by strengthening Early Warning System and through better adaptive strategies, flood losses can be brought to the minimum level.

Published in Daily Times, July 6^th , 2017.