Government unveils monsoon preparedness plan as Climate Minister calls for better management to deal with disasters

Pakistan must move from simply storing water to regulating it throughout the year, Climate Minister Musadiq Malik said on Tuesday, as federal ministers outlined the government’s monsoon preparedness strategy and warned that better water management would be key to protecting food security and reducing the impact of climate-related disasters.

The briefing came as Pakistan continues to battle a deadly monsoon season, with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) reporting that at least 107 people have died and 297 others have been injured since the rains began on June 26. The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast another strong monsoon from July 29, warning of heavy rains, urban flooding and flash floods in parts of Islamabad, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. (KP), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).

Speaking at the NDMA headquarters alongside other ministers, Malik said the government had moved away from a one-size-fits-all response to disasters, adopting a strategy tailored to the different risks faced by different regions of the country.

“Our strategy is distinct. It has been further segmented,” he said, explaining that specific plans were being developed with provinces for cities vulnerable to extreme heat, alongside separate strategies for northern regions, agricultural plains and rural areas to protect food security and boost agricultural productivity.

The minister argued that Pakistan’s biggest challenge was not just storing more water, but also ensuring it was available when farmers needed it.

“If you let the equivalent of ten Mangla dams’ worth of water flow out during the last floods and didn’t hold it back for the time you actually needed it, what wisdom was there in that?” he asked.

“We don’t just have to collect water. We have to regulate it.”

He said dams should be seen as instruments to regulate water supplies rather than just storing them, warning that without enough water during the Rabi and Kharif seasons, food security would inevitably suffer.

Calling water infrastructure a national security issue, Malik said the government would focus on improving water regulation, telemetry and storage systems, while also working with provinces to strengthen zoning and building standards.

“If a roof collapses, tell me what any government can do after that,” he said, adding that while building regulations are mainly the responsibility of provincial governments after the 18th amendment, the federation would provide all necessary technical support.

Read: Ten more people die as monsoon death toll passes 100

National Food Security Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain, addressing the same panel, said: “Pakistan will particularly need much greater water storage in the coming days.”

He said the country must prepare for two parallel challenges: “how to deal with flooding and how to overcome water shortages.” Calling food security, water management and disaster preparedness “interdependent and interdependent,” he said increasing storage capacity remained a priority.

Tanveer said the Diamer-Bhasha Dam would add about 6.4 million acre-feet of storage capacity, while the Mohmand Dam would contribute nearly a million acre-feet. He also highlighted the progress of the Dasu project and expressed hope that K-IV Karachi Water Supply Project would be completed by the end of this year or early next year.

Echoing calls for a coordinated approach, Finance Minister Aurangzeb described climate change and population growth as Pakistan’s two “existential problems”, adding: “There has to be a whole-of-government approach.”

He thanked the NDMA’s National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) for significantly improving Pakistan’s ability to anticipate disasters, recalling that officials had accurately predicted glacial lake floods, flash floods and heatwaves during briefings last year. “I was here in November and December. We were presented minute by minute when the glacial lake floods would occur, when the flash floods would occur and when the heat waves would arrive.”

Aurangzeb also said that Pakistan was now in a stronger financial position to respond to disasters than during the catastrophic floods of 2022. “The prime minister and the cabinet have decided that we now have sufficient resources so that whenever such disasters occur, we can use our own resources for relief and relief.”

Warning that climate change poses a direct threat to economic growth, he said: “If we don’t address these two issues properly, then whether we have 4%, 5%, 6% or 8% growth no longer matters. »

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said preparations for the monsoon season began well before the rains, under the directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, with the NDMA coordinating closely with federal ministries, provincial governments, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

He credited NEOC’s forecasting technology and early warning systems with helping to reduce human and property losses during this year’s monsoon.

“This NEOC is one of the few facilities of its kind in the world,” Tarar said, describing it as “an asset” that has enabled authorities to provide timely alerts through traditional media and the NDMA Alert mobile app.

Learn more: Monsoon continues to swell Punjab’s rivers

He urged citizens to remain vigilant and respond quickly to official warnings, noting that several cities had received months’ worth of rain in just a few days.

Thanking the media for amplifying weather alerts and public awareness campaigns, Tarar said the government would continue to work with broadcasters and digital platforms to keep citizens informed throughout the monsoon season.

“Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, we are pursuing an effective whole-of-government approach,” he said. “We will protect infrastructure, ensure a rapid response wherever damage occurs and reduce the difficulties faced by the population.”

The monsoon is in full swing

Several rivers in Punjab continued to experience flooding due to monsoon rains, although the flood situation in the Chenab river showed signs of improvement in the last 24 hours, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said on Monday.

The PDMA said the river flow had remained stable over the past 24 hours. Minor flooding persisted in the Indus River at Kalabagh, Chashma and Taunsa, where water flows were recorded at 273,000, 313,000 and 364,000 cusecs, respectively.

Punjab and KP were worst hit by deaths, many of them due to collapsing mud houses, electrocution and lightning strikes. Gilgit-Baltistan also suffered extensive damage, with flash floods and mudslides destroying houses, bridges and road infrastructure in several districts.

The government is also preparing for another round of heavy rains. The PMD forecasts a strong monsoon system from July 29, warning of widespread rainfall in Islamabad, upper Punjab, KP, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and upper catchments of major rivers.

The meteorological department warned that the system could trigger urban flooding, flash floods in hill streams and nullahs, as well as increased river flow, prompting authorities to step up emergency preparedness and response measures ahead of the new wave.

Meanwhile, Britain remains among the worst-hit regions, where flash floods, mudslides and landslides have damaged 184 houses, destroyed nine bridges and washed away nearly eight kilometers of roads, according to the Gilgit-Baltistan Disaster Management Authority.

He said 60 disasters were recorded in the region, with Astore reporting the highest number of damaged houses, Diamer suffering significant destruction and Skardu recording the highest number of bridge losses.