Pakistan’s flood forecasting system is flawed, warn experts

Intikhab Hanif in Dawn (Pakistan): Foreign and local experts have identified flaws in the existing rain and flood forecasting system of the country and called for speedy improvements so that remote-sensing technologies being provided to it may be better utilised.

Attending a two-day workshop titled ‘Accuracy and Reliability of Flood Forecasting Models by Use of Remote Sensing Techniques’ — which was organised jointly by the Pakistan Meteorological Department and Unesco under a project funded by Japan — experts from Australia, France, Japan and Taiwan and representatives of the concerned Pakistani organisations underlined the need to factor in climate change models while developing the capacity to predict and manage floods.

The participants of the workshop were of the opinion that significant investments were needed in flood management efforts and said the Japanese government spent at least 1 per cent of its GDP in such initiatives every year.

They said that remote-sensing technologies for prediction of rainfall, floods and river flows, which were being utilised efficiently in many countries, were now being transferred to Pakistan under the project funded by Japan.

“Early warning, evacuation and preparedness are parts of a continuous process which spans across field observations, model forecasting, dissemination, evacuation and preparedness. If there is no data there will be no preparedness. However, the on-ground rainfall and river flow data networks are inadequate to successfully customise these technologies for Pakistan,” it was observed....

River Kali Sindh in Sawai Madhopur, shot by PP Yoonus, who has released it into the public domain