PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Friday ordered “timely and coordinated preparedness” to prevent loss of public life and property as well as infrastructure during the upcoming monsoon season.

He directed all relevant departments to ensure complete operational readiness ahead of time and warned that negligence or administrative complacency would not be tolerated under any circumstances.

“Vulnerability mapping of high-risk areas, standard operating procedure training and mock exercises should be completed by June 15 without exception,” he said during a meeting on the provincial monsoon contingency plan.

The participants reviewed preparedness of authorities across the province for monsoon rains, potential flooding and related natural disasters, with the chief minister ordering the timely release and utilisation of all required financial resources, according to a statement from the Chief Minister’s Secretariat.

Warns negligence or administrative complacency won’t be tolerated

The meeting decided that district emergency operation centres across all districts of the province would remain fully functional with round the clock duty rosters to ensure an immediate and coordinated emergency response mechanism.

The meeting was informed that daily monitoring of glacial lakes, rivers and rainfall patterns is already under way and that a province-wide campaign for the cleaning of drains, seasonal waterways, culverts and sewerage lines was also in progress.

Officials said cleaning had been completed in 4,099 out of 4,802 drains, while approximately 598 kilometres out of more than 635 kilometres of drainage lines had already been cleared.

They said that 524 encroachments out of 794 identified cases had already been removed, while operations against the remaining encroachments were continuing.

Officials from Rescue 1122 briefed the meeting that the Monsoon Contingency Plan had been finalised and water-rescue points were being established in various districts. The chief minister directed that verification of the availability and operational readiness of rescue equipment, boats, water pumps and other emergency response machinery be completed by June 15.

He also instructed the health department to ensure adequate stocks of medicines, IV fluids, anti-snake venom, ORS and other emergency medical supplies.

The meeting further decided that emergency stockpiles of tents, non-food items, medicines and other relief materials would be pre-positioned before the onset of the monsoon season.

It read that the chief minister directed PDMA to ensure availability of all required non-food items before June 15 and ordered continuous assessment of the availability and demand for family tents, kitchen sets, hygiene kits, blankets and other relief supplies besides which resource allocation be prioritised according to district specific needs and vulnerability indices.

The participants were informed that all districts had been instructed to submit updated stock positions to ensure adequate availability of emergency relief supplies prior to the monsoon season.

Relevant departments, including Irrigation, PDMA and district administrations, had also been directed to operationalise full telemetry access on an immediate basis.

The meeting was informed that the process of establishing Community Based Disaster Risk Management Committees (CBDRMC) in all 36 districts of the province was nearing completion, with 1,214 out of 1,220 committees already notified.

Officials from the education department informed the meeting that an Education Continuity Plan had been finalised for 185 camp schools. Mr Afridi directed that evacuation and first response training for field staff be completed by May 30 and instructed all departments to immediately update contact lists of key officers and field personnel.

He also directed departments to ensure complete operational readiness of excavators, loaders, tractors and other emergency machinery, the statement read adding that as part of the public awareness strategy, the meeting decided to disseminate safety advisories, evacuation instructions and emergency helpline information to the public.

The chief minister directed the Peshawar Electric Supply Company and forest department to conduct immediate inspection of electricity poles, transformers and hazardous trees. The forest department informed the meeting that implementation of the pre-monsoon fire prevention and wood log monitoring plan had already commenced.

Mr Afridi directed authorities to complete legal and administrative measures for the imposition of Section 144 in flood prone areas to restrict bathing and fishing activities during the monsoon season and made it clear that any delay in rescue operations during emergencies would be unacceptable.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2026