Workshop on flood early warning system held

Islamabad

To further improve and strengthen the flood early warning system and management capacity of Pakistan, Unesco, with the financial assistance from the Government of Japan, is collaborating with Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) and Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).

In this regards, Unesco, PCRWR, and PMD jointly organised a two-day international workshop in Islamabad which aimed at use of strategic data for reliable modeling in the context of flood forecasting. The workshop is part of Unesco’s "Strategic Strengthening of Flood Early Warning and Management Capacity of Pakistan" Project.

Speaking on the occasion Yasuhiro TOJO, Chief Representative of Japan International Cooperative Agency (JICA) said that according to the Global Climate Risk Index, Pakistan was one of the 10 countries most affected by extreme weather events during 1995-2014.

“Three major floods in 2010, 2011 and 2014 affected more than 30 million people, resulting in more than $14 billion in damage and losses. Japan is also one of disaster prone countries. Therefore Japan has sufficient experience and expertise for disaster management. We want to enhance cooperation for disaster management sector in Pakistan”, he added.

Dr. Shahbaz Khan, director, Unesco Jakarta, Regional Bureau for Science in Asia and the Pacific, in his remarks mentioned that Unesco successfully implemented two phases of the project. The project led to the flood risk management capacity development of Pakistan agencies and installation and development of Indus-Eastern River IFAS (Integrated Flood Analysis System) Model.

Teruaki Nagasawa, first secretary, Economic and Development, the Embassy of Japan, assured full cooperation of Japan Government to the Government of Pakistan for Disaster Management Programmes.

Earlier, PCRWR Chairman Dr. Muhammad Ashraf in his welcome remarks extended his gratitude to Unesco and Government of Japan for initiating this project, to strengthen flood early warning system of Pakistan. “PCRWR has also established a well-equipped Soil Physics Laboratory under this project,” he added.

Vibeke Jensen, director Unesco, Islamabad, a representative to Pakistan; Dr. Naseer A. Gillani, Chief Water, Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform; Dr. Ghulam Rasool, director general, Pakistan Meteorological Department, also spoke on the occasion.