Statistics show that since 1950, Pakistan has lost 11,526 lives to floods and that 188,531 villages have been affected due to flood in the country. The frequency of floods has increased in recent years hitting the economically challenged nation hard. A study states that by 2030 nearly 2.7 million people in Pakistan may be affected by floods.
While the government of Pakistan has taken initiatives such as the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and provincial disaster management authorities (PDMAs) to minimise the damage caused by the floods, there are individuals as well who have stepped in to mitigate the situation. One such team of individuals is Rah-e-Qamar who created Glacier Lake Outburst Floods System, a mobile app which sends an alarm in case of a glacier outburst which can possibly result in a flood. The app, which is well suited to present day needs is also the winner of the fifth National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) International Space Challenge held in Islamabad.
Rah-e-Qamar Team Leader Ifetkhar Yezdani said while talking to Pakistan Today:
“Floods in Pakistan is a matter of growing concern. Our immediate idea was to prove that space technology and information and communications technology (ICT) can be used to save human lives. Our app is a mesh of sensors that keep a check on things such as marked water level, depth of dangerous lakes and generate alerts immediately in case of predefined anomalies.”
Rah-e-Qamar has been nominated for the global space app challenge where the team will be competing with representatives of 160 countries. If it wins the global competition, the mobile app might be turned into a functional project under the mentorship of NASA.
“Our entire project and system is built around the idea of minimal human intervention till the point of evacuation. The mobile app is part of a much larger system that we presented at the Space Apps Challenge. It promises the potential of monitoring live data feeds from sensors in additional to a lot more,’’ said Yezdani on the prospects of his application, which was created in a mere 48 hours.
Every year since 2012, NASA invites engineers, scientists, technologists and innovators from over 100 countries to help in creating solutions to overcome the challenges mankind is facing. This year the competition came to Pakistan to meet the innovators, due to the collaboration of Shakil Rafiq, a software professional, and Institute of Space Technology with NASA. The aim of NASA International Space App Challenge is to utilise the talent of passionate individuals in order to improve the conditions of life on earth.
NASA Challenge Curator Shakil Rafiq intends to expand the scope of space sciences in Pakistan.
‘’Working in tech Industry, I wanted to contribute to its applications in other fields of science. There was nothing being organised when I thought [of this] event. I am hoping to expand it to large audiences including school students.’’
Rafiq also plans to conduct NASA International Space App Challenge in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar next year.
