ISLAMABAD, Jan 27: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has constituted a seven-member permanent committee to ascertain and minimize the impact of overall climate change on Pakistan's agriculture, economy and environment, Dawn has learnt.

Led by the prime minister himself, the committee comprises federal ministers for food and agriculture, water and power, science and technology, environment, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, minister of state for environment and the federal government's economic adviser.

The decision to this effect has been taken following reports that global warming phenomenon and climate change could pose serious threats to Pakistan's economy particularly resulting in fast depletion of Himalayan glaciers - a major source of the country's irrigation and agriculture system.

The sources said the cabinet division has issued a notification to formally constitute the Prime Minister's Committee on Climate Change. The committee would meet twice a year and function as policy and review forum focussing on the challenges related to climate change.

On the basis of research studies of various world renowned institutes, the federal government has been warned that Pakistan could experience major water problems like floods and droughts in the next 20 to 50 years owing to an unusually fast depletion of Himalayan glaciers.

The sources said it was felt that the government should move in an unconventional manner to cope with the emerging challenges of the climatic change before it was too late.

They said some reports indicated that Himalayan glaciers, contributing over 80 per cent water to Pakistan's largest River Indus that feeds more than 65 per cent agriculture, were retreating between 30 and 50 metres every year. The Himalayas contain the world's third largest ice mass after Antarctica and Greenland.

A recent report of the Earth Policy Institute (EPI) said most Himalayan glaciers had been thinning and retreating over the past 30 years, with losses accelerating to alarming levels in the past decade.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) during recent briefings had informed the government that various scientific reports suggested a number of uncertainties because the glaciers were melting fast, although decreasing trend of these glaciers was faster on the eastern side compared with western side that feeds Pakistan.

The PMD had indicated that higher melting speed of glaciers could result in huge water flows in the first 20 years from now and then cause shortages in the next 20 to 25 years.

The PMD had also submitted a detailed report on climate change impact on Indus river flow and the glacier's echo-hydrology. The Himalayan glaciers feed the seven major rivers of Asia, including the Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Salween, Mekong, Yangtze, and Huang He Yellow and thus contribute to the year-round water supply of a vast population.