ISLAMABAD: The Interna­­tional Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank will finance Pakistan’s hydro-meteorological and climate services project with a soft loan of $135 million to strengthen the government’s capacity to deliver reliable and timely weather, hydrological and climate information and services to user departments and communities.

The current meteorological and hydrological services have limited capacity and capability to provide quantitative information to guide timely decision-making. The present capability of the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) allows it to generate weather and hydrological forecasts for one to two days and an outlook for three to five days. This does not respond to the needs of stakeholders who require information from the PMD for short-term operations as well as medium- to long-term planning.

The $155m project to be implemented by the PMD is currently at evaluation stage and the financing is expected to be approved in 2018, said a World Bank document obtained by Dawn on Saturday. Under the project, new meteorological and other related structures will be established across the country.

The location of these installations is expected to be in remote areas with low population. Some interventions pertain to the upgrade of existing installations.

The project interventions are expected to lead to improved hydro-meteorological information and services, strengthened forecasting and early-warning systems, and improved dissemination of weather, climate and hydrological information to end-users. The project will be implemented over a period of five years. Key indicators of the project include improved accuracy and lead time for weather forecasts and warnings.

The modernisation of hydro-meteorological and climate services will bring cross-cutting socioeconomic benefits across many sectors and user departments. The performance of Pakistan’s key economic sectors depends heavily on managing weather and disaster risks.

Sectors such as agriculture, aviation, water, urban infrastructure and hydropower underpin economic productivity, employment and poverty-reduction efforts. Improved development and delivery of hydro-met-based information services and early warnings can make important contributions to economic productivity while also enhancing community resilience to natural hazards.

Globally, Pakistan is considered the sixth country most affected by extreme weather events constituting a major challenge for development. The possible effects of climate change in Pakistan are expected to increase glacial melt, raise the sea level along the coast, and increase periods without precipitation, potentially leading to dry spells and droughts. Increased glacial recession in the present and near future will result in re-distribution of seasonal water inflow to the Indus River Basin.

Pakistan is also one of the most flood prone countries in South Asia. The 2010 floods were particularly catastrophic in that they affected approximately 20m people with around 2,000 lives lost and 2m houses damaged or destroyed. Flood exposure is very high throughout the country, due to the runoff from snow-fed rivers through mountain ranges, and heavy rains during the monsoon season.

On the other hand, most of Pakistan experiences low rainfall and as much as 60 per cent of the country is classified as semi-arid to arid, with the most susceptible regions experiencing drought two or three years every decade. Drought events include those of 2000, 2002, 2009 and 2010, which severely impacted livelihoods and forced thousands to migrate.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2017

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