PM’s Coordinator MNA Romina Khurshid urges deptts to take all-out measures to avoid heatwave related deaths, casualties
ISLAMABAD: Coordinator to Prime Minister on Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, Romina Khurshid Alam has urged all the federal and provincial government departments concerned to mobilise all resources available to protective lives of the people, particularly children and the elderly from sweltering heatwave conditions gripping a large part the country since May 21. Quoting the heatwave data of the Pakistan Meteorological Department, the PM’s Coordinator said that presently most parts of the country continue to remain in grip of raging heatwave since early this week, with daytime temperatures nearly 5 to 6 degree Celsius above normal, Speaking to a joint news conference with senior officials of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) here on Thursday, Ms Romina Khurshid said informed the media that at present nearly 26 districts in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan are in grip of the severe heatwave that would surge in three spells in the summer months ahead.
Romina said, “The country was confronting a blood boiling heatwave and it was the first spell of sizzling temperature rise that would continue in three waves starting from the prevalent May 22-30, the second from June 7-8 and the third to be in the last week of June.” The presence of high pressure in the upper atmosphere of the heatwave-hit countries have caused the heatwave conditions, affecting socio-economic lives of the people in an adverse manner, she highlighted. Accompanied by the NDMA’s Member Disaster Risk Reduction, Idrees Mahsud and technical expert Dr Tayyab, Climate Change Ministry media spokesperson Muhammad Saleem Shaikh, the PMs aide on climate change highlighted that comprehensive guidelines and early warnings with standard operating procedures (SOPs) have already been put place to stave off heatwave-related casualties as seen during the killer heatwave in 2015, which left nearly 2,500 people killed.
The PM’s aide commented that the heatwaves were more a human-caused crisis than a natural hazard, saying it was hitting the areas with less green cover, excessive unsustainable and environment damaging anthropogenic activities. Ms Romina Khurshid told media that the human-caused global warming was adversely affected the whole world and heatwave was on of its after-effect that had gripped our region so frequently in recent years, whereas well-prepared heatwave guidelines were shared repeatedly through electronic, print and social media for raising public awareness about the effects of heatwaves on health and possible remedial measures to avoid deaths and casualties. “Public must try to avoid unnecessary outdoor visits, which could cause adverse health impacts for especially children, the elderly and the people suffering from serious illnesses,” she urged. The NDMA, she said, being a national body, was mostly working on early warnings and coordinating with the provincial departments on various natural disasters and calamities faced by the country.
The Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination was monitoring and supporting the coordination measures and observing all mechanisms on routine basis as heatwave that used to be a slow-onset event had expedited alongwith abruptly changing weather patterns like erratic monsoon rainfalls, she said. She underlined that with the beginning of the heatwave phenomenon the glaciers of the country were rapidly melting, whereas the danger of glaring forest fires had also spiked manifold. Ms Romina also highlighted that she was monitoring the entire situation on the directives of the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was very much keen on enhancing the country’s climate and disaster resilience against devastating impacts of heatwaves, floods and forest fires. She also requested the general public to exercise utmost care while entering national parks and green areas and avoid throwing cigarette butts and inflammable materials like matchsticks that could erupt infernos on mass scale.
The PM aide also recalled that the Ministry of Climate Change and Capital Development Authority (CDA) teamed up last week to successfully put out forest fire recently in the Margallas. “Lighter, perfume and other inflammable materials should not be left in cars under sun and keep windows of the vehicles slightly open to avoid any untoward situation due to rising temperatures. The workers or labourers working at different sites should be provided water as it is an extremely hot and unusual situation that could lead to serious emergency,” she urged the public. Meanwhile, the PM’s coordinator lauded that the early warning system of the NDMA under its National Emergencies Operation Center (NEOC) was the strongest in the world and it provided 24/7 data that guides the national and provincial entities and the general public at large.
Technical expert, Dr Tayyab from NDMA informed that global climate transition left Pakistan as the fifth most vulnerable country due to climate change. The NDMA had developed first ever disaster calendar of the country with six months projections of summers and winters projecting separate natural calamities, he added. He mentioned that January and February this year observed rainfall below normal and below normal snowfall, whereas erratic rainfall happened in April that occurred in other countries as well and also the torrential rains that pounded Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan provinces.
He mentioned that the NEOC had developed the complete guidelines of heatwave that projected extreme prevalence of rising temperature impacts in the plains of South Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan namely Umerkot, Tharparkar, Tando Allah Yar, Mitiari, Sanghar, Dadu, Jacobabad, Badin, Ghotki, Sukkur, Khairpur, Kashmore, Kachi, Lehri, Jhal Magsi, Lasbela, Bhawalpur, Rahimyar Khan, Lahore, Multan, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura, Rajanpur, and Lodhran. He highlighted that water stress was one of the major issues during heatwave as water consumption increased during heatwave as continuous water consumption was required to avoid dehydration. However, drought was another disaster linked to heatwave as groundwater aquifers depletion impacts human life and agriculture whereas Tharparkar and Jacobabad were facing mild drought situations that could also trigger agricultural drought, he added.
Responding to media queries, Romina Khurshid said the Prime Minister had formed a high level joint committee under his leadership that was in liaison with all the relevant authorities to keep the national forum abreast of prevailing climate catastrophes. Member, DRR, NDMA, Idrees Mahsud said that in-time preparedness, information sharing and awareness were the basics of disaster management and therefore an android mobile application was under preparation that would be accessible to general public and media for all alerts, advisories, plans and SOPs on disasters. He also informed that the Chairman NDMA through the national emergencies operation cell was in direct contact with the Director Generals of all provincial disaster management authorities with both hybrid and virtual modes to share knowledge and guide decision making processes in disasters. The national coordination cell as a forum had coordination with all local, provincial authorities, and donors and international agencies on various issues at the NDMA, he added.
