Acting Chairman NDMA Brigadier Naiknam Muhammad Baig has instructed relevant departments to prepare resource contingency plans and implement early warning systems and disaster mitigation interventions in hazard prone areas by learning from the experiences of floods 2022.

Presiding a special session of National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) with key stakeholders in Islamabad on current monsoon situation, he noted that proactive measures are essential in mitigating disaster impact and called for tangible actions before disaster strikes.

The DG PMD briefed on rainfall data in last 24 hours and upcoming monsoon spell. He said that next monsoon spell is expected to bring heavy rains in the upper parts of the country from July 31st to August 6th, triggering urban flooding in major cities, flash flooding and landsliding in hilly regions. He said major reservoirs including Tarbela and Mangla are nearly full at 79% and 74% respectively.

It was mentioned that two Indian dams Pong and Thein are also close to capacity and there is a possibility of flood flow from India into River Indus, which may affect Lahore adversely.

Federal Flood Commission informed the meeting that all major rivers are currently within normal limits.

The Acting-Chairman NDMA directed Provincial Authorities to undertake public awareness on all media channels and  social media to maximise general public’s knowledge on risk associated with monsoon season and make arrangements for allocation of their resources according to  weather projections.