Met office functioning without DG for last two weeks

ISLAMABAD: At a time when Pakistan is experiencing extreme weather events including heavy rains, lightning strikes and flashfloods, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) is functioning without a Director General (DG) for the last 15 days, officials said on Monday.

“At the moment, there is no Director General at the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) since the retirement of Mahr Sahibzad Khan whose last day in office was March 31, 2024. Neither the Ministry of Aviation has appointed any permanent DG Met nor has it given the look-after charge to anyone in the meteorological department”, an official of the PMD told The News.

Pakistan has been witnessing extreme weather events for the last few years under the influence of climate change and during the last couple of days, heavy rains and lightning strikes have killed several people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Despite the ongoing extreme weather situation and forecast of more heavy rains from Wednesday night in Balochistan and upper parts of the country, PMD is being run without any chief to advise on weather and climate situations.