ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s major cities are vulnerable to urban flooding in the event of heavy downpours in the upcoming monsoon, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department’s Monsoon Outlook 2017.

Strong incursions of monsoon currents, coupled with high temperatures, may even trigger glacier flooding.

The Met Office has forecast normal rainfall in July, and less than normal rainfall in August and September.

Based on global ocean and atmospheric conditions, summer monsoon rainfall is expected to be normal in the first half of the season and below normal in the second half of the season.

However, the department said extreme localised rainfall events are likely to occur, which may generate flash flooding in the mountainous regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

At the same time, due to erratic behaviour of the summer monsoon, extreme precipitation may occur at isolated places in the country which could result in floods. Less frequent rain in the southern half of the country may trigger drought-like conditions in a few districts in southern Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan.

In addition, there are chances of Glacier Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF), landslides and flash floods in upper KP and GB due to high temperatures in the north of the country during the upcoming monsoon season.

Pre-Monsoon 2017 Preparedness Conference

The weather forecast and preventive measures were discussed on Tuesday at the Pre-Monsoon 2017 Preparedness Conference organised by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

NDMA Chairman Lt Gen Omar Mahmood Hayat said the conference was organised to review preparatory efforts at the federal and provincial levels for the impending monsoon, and to harmonise all the related departmental plants with respect to flood fighting, rescue, relief and post-flood rehabilitation.

Province wise vulnerable points that need special attention were presented by the Federal Flood Commission, while the National Highway Authority shared progress on preparatory efforts undertaken for various national highways – with focus on Karakoram Highway, Gilgit-Skardu Road, Dir-Chitral Road, Rawalpindi-Murree-Muzaffarabad Road and Mansehra-Naran Road.

The Pakistan Army Engineers Directorate informed participants about the army’s preparedness measures to support civil administration.

The conference noted that armed forces are to be called for emergency response in aid on civil administration according to the contingency plans.

The salient features of the National Monsoon Contingency Response Directive 2017 were also discussed.

The conference was attended by senior representatives of various federal ministries, including the Ministry of Communication, Ministry of Water and Power, Ministry of Railways.

Officials from the Water and Power Development Authority, provincial irrigation departments, disaster management authorities from the provinces, Azad Kashmir, GB and the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas, armed forces representatives and other federal and provincial departments were also in attendance.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2017