ISLAMABAD: Planning Development and Reforms Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Monday said that concerned departments should take pre-emptive measures to deal with flooding situation in view of expected 20 per cent higher than the normal rains in the upcoming monsoon season.
The concerned departments should be prepared to minimise the losses of expected high floods in the country in the coming monsoon season, said a statement issued here.
He said that national preparedness is a composite for precaution at provincial levels to deal with calamity like situations due to more than normal rain in monsoon season.
Iqbal made these observations while chairing a high level meeting at Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform to understand the impact and level of monsoon rains in the region.
The meeting reviewed the expected rains in view of Met Office’s forecast and its impacts in detail.
Iqbal said that proper steps should be taken to inspect the conditions of water reservoirs and headwork’s before the arrival of monsoon season and all precautionary measures should be taken for relief activities and provision of medical facilities in the backdrop of expected flooding in various parts of the country.
He stressed on eliminating all the shortcomings in the relief operations, which hampered the relief activities in past when massive floods hit large parts of the country.
The minister said that the country is passing through abnormal conditions due to climate change distortions in recent years, which warrants sound national level preparedness to minimise the losses of floods.
He said early warning system is first defence line against the more than normal rains and subsequent flooding and emphasised the need to put in place a state of the art early warning system to check the losses from flood like natural calamities.
He assured all possible resources for installation of the early warning system to save the country from devastation caused by floods.
Iqbal urged to utilise the youth bulge for volunteerism in flood related relief activities and asked civil defence to take necessary steps for inducting high number of youth in its volunteer network, stressing on the need for combing operations to remove the snags in drainage systems at district level.
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