Islamabad (GNP): Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif directed Minister for Climate Change Dr. Musadik Masood Malik to ensure advance preparations for the upcoming monsoon season across the country.
The Prime Minister Shehbaz also instructed authorities to further strengthen the early warning system and ensure continuous monitoring of high-risk areas vulnerable to natural disasters.
Dr. Musadik Malik, who called on the prime minister, briefed him on the government’s preparedness for the forthcoming monsoon season.
During the meeting, the minister also apprised the Prime Minister Shehbaz of the progress and performance of the early warning systems installed in mountainous regions to monitor Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF) and flash floods.
Glacial Lake Outburst Flood GLOF-II – Scaling-up of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) risk reduction in Northern Pakistan.
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Due to rising temperatures, glaciers in Pakistan’s northern mountain ranges (the Hindu Kush, Himalayas and Karakorum) are melting rapidly and a total of 3,044 glacial lakes have developed in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Of these, 33 glacial lakes have been assessed to be prone to hazardous glacial lake outburst flooding (GLOF). GLOF are sudden events which can release millions of cubic metres of water and debris, leading to the loss of lives, roperty and livelihoods amongst remote and impoverished mountain communities. Over 7.1 million people in GB and KP are vulnerable; in these areas, 26.7 percent and 22 percent of the population, respectively, are below the poverty line.
The Scaling-up of GLOF risk reduction in Northern Pakistan (GLOF-II) project is a continuation of the four-year ‘Reducing Risks and Vulnerabilities from GLOF in Northern Pakistan’ (GLOF-I) project.
GLOF-I helped vulnerable communities prepare for and mitigate GLOF risks through early warning systems, enhanced infrastructure and community-based disaster risk management.
