ISLAMABAD: Minister for Climate Change, Senator Sherry Rehman on Wednesday said that the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination issued heat wave guidelines to provinces and relevant stakeholders to cope with the imminent threat of extreme temperature rise in summers so they could prevent any serious losses.
In a series of tweets, the federal minister said that the ministry had issued necessary standard operating procedures (SOPs) to provinces regarding arrangements for possible heat waves in the summer season.
Senator Rehman underlined that every year heat waves caused loss of lives, agriculture and the economy along with other damages. She added that in order to avoid these losses, along with the administration, the citizens also had to take precautionary measures.
These administrative SOPs regarding heat waves were formulated by the Ministry of Climate Change Task Force, and all provinces and stakeholders were consulted during formulation of SOPs.
“All district, provincial authorities and institutions should start preparations regarding the heat wave. We have recommended provinces to set up heat wave response centres at the union council (UC) level as well as a national level control room for information and coordinated efforts,” Ms Rehman said.
These SOPs include public awareness campaigns along with other recommendations to combat heat waves, she added.
Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2023
