Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani Saturday called for working out a strategy to face any possible challenges during the upcoming monsoon, asking the institutions to analyze and highlight the factors that damaged the country in the past. Chairing a special pre-monsoon coordination meeting at the PM’s Secretariat, Gilani said accurate early warnings and proper arrangements to handle the natural calamity would reduce its effects.
This was the first ever pre-monsoon coordination meeting to review the preparedness for any eventuality during the forthcoming following monsoons. The prime minister said the task of flood management should not only be restricted to the safety of dam structures but also focus on accurate and timely flood forecasting and its wide and timely dissemination to the public so that evacuation of the affected people and relief measures could be carried out in time.
The capacity building, he said, of the organisations dealing with the flood relief, management of escape channels for barrages and headworks, safety of protective bunds, realignment of important channels for the release of excessive water and development of alternate road links were major activities in this regard. The emergency services at national, provincial and district level, he added, must be coordinated well in time so that there was no wastage of resources.
The prime minister directed the Cabinet Division and the NDMA to develop a comprehensive plan and sustainable systems so that in case of any disaster, Pakistan should not be looking for assistance and help from foreign countries. He asked the Pakistan Meteorological Department to approach their counterparts in the developed countries, especially China, to help them in the forecasting of possible floods.
Gilani directed the Ministry of Water & Power to hold a coordination meeting to prepare a joint strategy in consultation with experts and the provincial governments to identify specific points for breaches of bunds, if needed. The people on their own, he asserted, should not be allowed to breach any canal or bund during the possible floods.
The Prime minister also asked the chief secretaries of four provinces as well as AJ&K and Gilgit-Baltistan to inspect primary bunds in their respective areas and use helicopters if necessary.
