Coordinator to the Prime Minister on Climate Change, MNA Romina Khurshid Alam on Friday urged all the federal and provincial departments to take all-out measures to protect lives and livelihoods of the people from ongoing heatwave spell and possible monsoon floods.
She also directed all the provinces including Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB) to ensure the maintenance of sufficient stocks of disaster relief items pre-monsoon onset to ensure in time preparedness against above-normal rainfall.
The PM’s Coordinator was chairing the meeting of the 2nd National Task Force on Global Warming and Heatwaves here on Friday. She urged all concerned Federal and Provincial departments to enhance their preparedness with regard to threat of flooding due to upcoming moon soon spell, stock maintenance and heat wave effects.
She emphasized on timely execution by all stakeholders on NDMA’s National Action Plan regarding flood threats in Southern Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan provinces. She also stressed upon inclusion of Lady Health Workers and Midwives in the medical relief camps to be established by concerned Federating Units during the emergency situations.
Romina Khurshid Alam highlighted that the country’s vulnerability to climate change-caused disasters would continue to deepen as the disasters, particularly heatwaves and floods are becoming more intense and frequent as the world continues to heat up because of untamed heat-trapping carbon emissions.
“The adverse socio-economic impacts of the disasters are unlikely to be overcome as long as the well-coordinated disaster risk mitigation or prevention measures are not taken jointly by all federal and provincial departments,” Romina Khurshid Alam warned.
She assured of her Ministry’s unwavering support at all levels so as the country’s disaster vulnerability is lessened through effective collaboration among the federal and provincial departments, mainly the national and provincial disaster management authorities, health, education, agriculture, water and energy departments.
She said like many other parts of the world, Pakistan is also experiencing the adverse repercussions of global warming, leading to more frequent and intense heatwaves as witnessed this year in May and during previous years.
Changes in weather patterns contribute to unpredictable and extreme temperature variations. Highlighting the country’s heatwave vulnerability, the PM’s Coordinator said Pakistan has becoming highly vulnerable to heatwaves due to its geographical location, shifting climate patterns, declining or changing rainfall patterns, expanding summer season untamed illegal tree-cutting and urbanisation.
Meanwhile, the participants of the meeting suggested that addressing the country’s vulnerability to heatwaves requires a multi-faceted approach, including improved urban planning, better infrastructure, awareness campaigns on heatwave preparedness, and measures to mitigate climate change.
Additionally, investing in early warning systems and improving access to healthcare services can help reduce the impacts of heatwaves on vulnerable populations, they added.
During the meeting, the PM’s Coordinator took serious exception to the illegal tree cutting in the country’s various parts, particularly in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
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