Pakistan's prime minister reviews state of flood control preparedness

South Asia News Agency: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has directed the Ministry of Water and Power, National Highway Authority, Pakistan Railways, and National Disaster Management Authority to expedite the removal of encroachments in the natural waterways and strengthening of the embankments along Sher Shah Bridge, Akbar Bund, Shahdhra Railway Bridge before start of monsoon to minimize the damage in the event of possible floods.

The Prime Minister gave these directions while chairing a meeting on the State of Disaster Preparedness 2012 by the Ministry of National Disaster Management, which was attended by the Secretaries of Finance, Economic Affairs Division, National Disaster Management Divisions, Chairmen of NDMA, NHA, Federal Flood Commission, Wapda, and the Chief Secretaries of Punjab, Sindh, Gilgit-Baltistan, DG Met office and other senior officials.

The Prime Minister directed to enhance weather forecasting capacity of the Met Department by linking it with the European Satellite System. He further emphasized that international data on the subject be used in this respect to improve accuracy of the weather forecasting, which was an important component of preparedness.

On the question of release of funds for enhancement of weather forecasting capacity, the Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs Division to arrange required funds. ‘It will be worthwhile not to follow the approach marked by the saying “penny wise, pound foolish’, he maintained.

The Prime Minister appreciated the idea of Disaster Risk Insurance to cover up the possible damages in the disaster proven areas. He asked the Ministry of Finance and EAD to examine the case in detail and work out the options with the Ministry of Disaster Management and NDMA....

A broken bridge in Pakistan, shot by Maria Ly, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license