PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Environmental Protection Agency (KP-EPA) has held separate workshops in Upper and Lower Chitral districts for soliciting suggestions of the local stakeholders and incorporating them into the final draft of the proposed Climate Adaptation Action Plan, which will be submitted to the provincial cabinet for approval and implementation.

According to a press release issued here, these workshops were held with the financial assistance of the United Nations Development Programme’s Glof-II project and attended by the representatives of relevant government departments and local communities.

The participants gave their inputs based on their experience and the local wisdom to combat the effects of the climate change phenomenon.

KP-EPA director general Mohammad Anwar Khan, additional secretary of environment department Minhasuddin, assistant chief Foreign Aid of KP government Ozair Rahim and EPA deputy director Afsar Khan briefed the audience about the blueprint and approach of the proposed adaptation action plan, which was based on adaptation and mitigation.

They said that based on topography the province had been divided into nine ecological zones so that each zone got an action plan conforming to its environmental needs and the hazards recurring there.

They said that both the districts of Chitral faced the risk of glacial lake outburst floods (Glof), which posed threats to the human settlements and physical infrastructures and for this reason it needed special treatment to mitigate the sufferings of the affected area.

The officials said that the role of each government department had been described in the action plan coupled with the responsibilities of the local communities to combat the issues caused by climate change.

They said the role of civil society and elected representatives of the local government was also crucial in this regard. Glof-II project field officer Iqtidarul Mulk and deputy commissioners of the two districts also attended the event.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2022