Water storage, warnings, local readiness to cut flood risk: experts

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s growing vulnerability to cli- mate extremes demands ur- gent, integrated responses, as frequent floods, rising temperatures and deterio- rating water quality threaten food, water, biodiversity and livelihoods, experts noted at a roundtable discussion here on Friday. They said while floods dominated national discus- sions, rising temperatures, shrinking forest cover and weak governance capacities undermined resilience. Experts underscored the importance of policy imple- mentation, proactive gover- nance, better water storage, sustainable water manage- ment, improved early warn- ing systems and disaster im- pact mitigation. The event, titled “Floods in Pakistan: Building Re- silience and Insights for Fu- ture Planning,” was organ- ised by the Institute of Pol- icy Studies (IPS) with for- mer federal water and power secretary Hamid Has- san in the chair. Mr Hassan highlighted Pakistan’s dependence on external warnings, citing India’s unannounced water releases in contravention of provisions under the Indus Waters Treaty. He called for indigenous competence in forecasting and managing disasters and said floods could offer benefits if ac- tively managed and not pas- sively endured. IPS chairman Khalid Rahman said floods in Pak- istan were driven by both climate change and human- made factors, necessitating integrated solutions. He noted that capacity- building must extend from grassroots to national levels, ensuring that short-, medium- and long-term strategies work in tandem to safeguard people and re- sources. Climate change expert Dr. Pervaiz Amir said cli- mate extremes in Pakistan stressed the urgency of in- creasing the country’s forest cover, which had dropped below 1%, to at least 40%. He also emphasised the impor- tance of building dams to store monsoon rainwater as well as water diversion schemes to desert areas. Adviser at the China-Pak- istan Joint Research Centre on Earth Sciences Dr. Ghu- lam Rasul underlined that climate change has intensi- fied heatwaves and floods in recent decades. He recom- mended vertical rather than horizontal urban expansion, clearing of natural water- ways and incorporation of climate projections in town planning. Disaster risk capacity building expert Syed Ikra- mul Haq advocated for gov- ernance principles that em- power communities as the first responders to disas- ters. He suggested investing in tourism infrastructure as a dual-use asset during disas- ters and integrating data and AI technology into climate disaster strategies. Altaf Sher of the charity organisation Alkhidmat Foundation recounted the recent devastating Glacial Lake Outburst Flood events in the north, where giant boulders destroyed commu- nities. Former Planning Com- mission member Dr. Syed Tahir Hijazi noted that re- silience-focused schemes should not only aim to pro- tect against floods but also harness their benefits. He pointed to fisheries and run-of-river hydropower as untapped opportunities linked to floods.