PM Shehbaz reviews monsoon preparedness with NDMA chief

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday met National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lt Gen Inam Haider Malik to discuss preparations in case of monsoon rains in the country.

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According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Prime Minister Shehbaz was briefed on the preparations regarding any emergency situation during the monsoon rains in the country, and the Prime Minister was also briefed on the progress made in fully activating the early warning system and coordinating with the Ministry of Climate Change in this regard.

In a meeting earlier this month, Prime Minister Shehbaz had ordered the formation of a federal emergency response committee. He had also asked Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik and NDMA Chairman to undertake emergency visits to all provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) to review the preparedness for the monsoon season.

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These meetings took place after the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) announced that a new monsoon period would begin in the country from the first week of July. The department had said a westerly wave was likely to enter the upper parts of the country from June 30, while moist currents from the Arabian Sea continuously entered the eastern and central parts of the country.

The ministry warned that the weather could damage infrastructure, such as solar panels, utility poles and billboards. It also indicated a possibility of landslides in vulnerable areas of upper Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Kashmir.

He further warned of urban/flash flooding in Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Nowshera, Sialkot, Narowal, Gujranwala, Lahore and Faisalabad, advising citizens to remain cautious.