June 22, 2008	Sunday	Jamadi-us-Sani 17, 1429

ISLAMABAD, June 21: Sindh and NWFP have asked the federal government to do away with the existing formula of funds allocation for floods on the basis of population and rather introduce a new mechanism under which such money should be distributed on the basis of vulnerability of an area to floods, it is learnt.Both the provinces are the most vulnerable to floods than the rest of the country and are highly critical of Punjab, the most populous province, for taking away a bigger chunk from the flood funds despite the fact that it is comparatively less exposed to the natural calamity.

The demand was made at the 23rd inter-provincial meeting held here on Saturday to review protection measures ahead of the monsoon flood season that usually starts from mid July.

Federal Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf presided over the meeting.

As officials of the Pakistan Metrological Department warned the meeting of early start of monsoon rains this year, provinces criticised the centre for reducing allocations for flood by Rs800 million. This time, the government has allocated Rs1 billion compared to Rs1.8 billion last year, which is being considered as peanuts following warnings of possibly more severe floods in Sindh and the NWFP this season.

Sources told Dawn that the minister had agreed to a demand of the provinces that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani should be approached for release of extra funds in emergency if the severity of floods hit as high as predicted by the Met office.

National Disaster Management Authority chairman Lt-Gen (retd) Farooq Ahmed Khan stressed the need for a better coordinated role of the Federal Flood Commission in the execution of flood protection works in the provinces and federal line agencies side by side improvements in the flood forecasting and warning system.

A spokesman for the water ministry said Mr Ashraf also called for collaborative efforts in order to pass forthcoming flood season safely. The minister said the federal government would provide all possible resources for implementation of flood management measures. He advised the Pakistan Meteorological Department for assisting the irrigation departments of the NWFP and Balochistan in the installation of the warning system with a view to addressing the issues of flash floods.

Officials of the water ministry, representatives of provincial governments, Federal Flood Commission, Met Department, provincial relief commissioners, Wapda, Pakistan Army, Planning Commission, Railways, NDMA, Northern Areas and Fata attended the meeting.

The minister directed that coordination meetings with provinces should be held frequently, preferably on quarterly basis instead of once-a-year to ensure timely implementation of flood protection decisions. He also directed for simplification of procedures relating to flood relief and rescue and for formulation of a consensus policy on allocations of money from the federal government.

Representatives of provincial irrigation departments informed the meeting that work on all emergent flood protection works were in progress and they were expected to be completed before the start of flood season. They said they had taken all precautionary and preparatory measures to combat any eventuality in the event of very high floods.

Pakistan Meteorological Department informed the meeting that it had completed major improvements in the flood forecasting sector through up-gradation of weather radars at Lahore and Sialkot besides installation of a latest radar system at Mangla to monitor river Jhelum catchments. The radars will be in operation during the forthcoming flood season.