Punjab to benefit from NDRMF to mitigate climate change effects

LAHORE:Punjab Chief Secretary Major (r) Azam Suleman Khan has said that the provincial government has decided to benefit from the expertise of National Disaster Risk Management Fund (NDRMF) to mitigate the effects of climate change and deal with the natural calamities such as floods, droughts and earthquakes.

The chief secretary (CS) said this while chairing a meeting at Civil Secretariat on Wednesday. The meeting was attended by NDRMF CEO Lt-Gen (r) Nadeem Ahmad and other officers concerned.

Major (r) Azam Suleman asked the NDRMF officials to help Punjab government evolve a comprehensive policy for the revitalisation of River Ravi. He asked them to control environmental pollution and flooding at River Sawan.

Under the police, measures would be taken to deal with the issues of smog, disposal of industrial waste, vehicular emissions and water and air pollution, he added. He said that NDRMF experts should extend technical assistance to the Punjab government, adding that the relevant provincial departments would closely coordinate with the NDRMF committee formed at the provincial level.

Offering services of experts to the Punjab government to deal with flooding in rivers and nullahs, Lt Gen (r) Nadeem Ahmad said that they would extend all kind of technical and financial support to the province. He mentioned that his organisation was ready to provide help to the province for drought mitigation.

The chief secretary directed the Irrigation Department to benefit from the expertise of NDRMF to reduce the risk of drought in Cholistan.The meeting also decided to adopt a strategy of risk assessment before any possible disaster so that precious lives and infrastructure could be saved.