Flash floods: Early warning system to be installed in GB valleys till June 2022

ISLAMABAD: A project worth $37 million regarding installation of early warning systems in 24 valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan to avoid flash floods, under the Green Climate Fund, would be completed in June 2022.

The climate change ministry said the project was delayed due to some technical reasons, but now all modalities had been sorted out and work was in progress according to the schedule.

The outbreak of coronavirus pandemic was one of the main reasons that proved to be stumbling block in initiation of the project that was aimed at protecting the local communities against flash floods due to outburst of glacial lakes.

According to United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), more than 3,000 glacial lakes had formed as of 2018 in northern areas, with 33 of them considered hazardous due to which more than 7 million people living downstream face risk of flash floods.

The melting is likely to pick up over the summer months from June to September after a winter of heavy snowfall. So Pakistan Meteorological Department has installed an automatic weather station to monitor the situation.