ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change on Tuesday urged the government to immediately release funding for the Meteorology Department, to upgrade its obsolete weather radar systems.

“Every aspect related to climate change and floods in Pakistan is important. Upgrading technologies to prevent and prepare for natural disasters is a matter of urgency,” said Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, calling for the Met department to be strengthened.

The committee met for a detailed report on coordination between the Met department, the Ministry of Climate Change and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

On August 1, the department had forwarded a proposal to the Prime Minister’s Office asking for its weather radars to be upgraded at a cost of Rs19 billion.

Met Office Director General Dr Ghulam Rasul told committee members the present technology is “25 to 30 years old” and has outlived its operational life. “We have requested 21 new radars that will cover almost all parts of the country, as well as improve accuracy in predicting weather.”

Dr Rasul said that while technology had advanced significantly in the field of weather forecasts, Pakistan is not at par. He added: “We have qualified staff who struggle with old instruments.”

Senator Sherry Rehman cited successive floods since 2010, and said she was not surprised Pakistan was unprepared to prevent losses to agriculture, livestock, property and life, which could have been prevented if the Met department had been equipped with state of the art early warning weather systems.

“We urge the government enhance the capacity of the Met department before the next monsoon season,” she said.

The meeting also expressed surprise when NDMA spokesperson Ahmed Kamal told the committee that the flood protection plan had not been implemented for the last eight years.

According to the climate change secretary, the plan has been sitting with the Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee (IPCC).

Senator Syed, particularly, did not react well to the NDMA official’s admission. He said the flood protection plan had become a “joke”.

“This committee must start writing love letters to the PM about what is urgently needed here to prepare and minimize losses from unprecedented natural disasters,” he said, implying that such delays exacerbated problems facing the country, which is the 8th most vulnerable in the world to the impact of climate change.

Committee members also took up the matter of placing the Met department under the Ministry of Climate Change. It is currently operating the Ministry of Defence, and provides services to the aviation sector.

While most committee members were in favour of placing it under the climate change ministry, Aviation Division Joint Secretary Hassan Baig opposed the idea.

“The Met Office has been part of defence under a well thought out plan,” he argued.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2016

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