IWMI helping Pakistan with flood damage assessment: Official

LAHORE – A top official of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) says they are helping the government of Pakistan with flood damage assessment and recovery from the natural calamity.

Dr Mohsin Hafeez, the IWMI country representative for Pakistan, said, “All four of Pakistan’s provinces have been severely hit by the riverine floods and excessive rainfall in hill torrents, with some rural regions unreachable by road. We are working closely with the federal, provincial and local governments to help assess the flood damage using remote sensing and satellite imagery to support prioritization of humanitarian responses.”

He said, “IWMI is drawing on its experience of other flood events in India and Sri Lanka, where we have developed effective early warning systems, to help guide the government in putting together an evidence-based framework to support the recovery and relief effort.”

Pakistan is one of the top 10 nations most vulnerable to climate change. The worst affected provinces of Balochistan and Sindh have received 400 per cent more precipitation this year than the 30-year average. The unprecedented and early heatwave this year also accelerated the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas, Hindu Kush and Karakoram mountain ranges, creating thousands of glacial lakes in northern Pakistan, around 30 of which could cause a deluge.

The monsoon system means the catastrophe is likely to peak within a week or 10 days. The immediate human toll and damage to water infrastructure, extensive damage to crops and loss of livestock will also impact food security in the region, driving up prices and creating the potential for food shortages in the weeks ahead.