Workshops on climate change: Chitral facing risk of glacial lake outburst flood

CHITRAL: Two workshops on climate change were held in the district headquarters of Lower and Upper Chitral. The events, organised by Environmental Protection Agency, were meant to solicit the opinions of the local stakeholders to incorporate them in the final draft of the action plan which will be submitted to the KP government cabinet for approval and implementation.

Held with the financial assistance of the United Nations Development Program’s GLOF-II Project, the workshops were attended by the representatives of line departments of the government and the local communities.

EPA Director General Anwar Khan, Additional Secretary of Environment Department Minhasud Din, Assistant Chief of Foreign Aid of KP government Ozair Rahim and Deputy Director of EPA Afsar Khan discussed the blueprint and approach of the proposed adaptation action plan, which was based on adaptation and mitigation.

They said that based on topography, the province had been divided into nine ecological zones so that each zone gets an action plan conforming to its environmental needs and the hazards prevalent there.

The speakers said both the districts of Chitral faced the risk of glacial lake outburst flood, which posed threats to human settlements and physical infrastructures and due to this reason, that needed special treatment to mitigate the suffering of the affected area.

They said the role of civil society and the elected representatives of the local government is also crucial in this regard and no policy can bear fruit without coordination and support of the local people. Field Officer of GLOF-II Project Shahzada Iqtidarul Mulk and the deputy commissioners of the districts were present at the events.