Faisal Vawda emphasises enactment of 'River Act'

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Water Resources, Faisal Vawda today (Wednesday) while chairing the 54th Annual Meeting of Federal Flood Commission, emphasised on the need to implement the ‘river act’, ARY News reported.

“There is dire need to remove the encroachments in the Flood Plains of river waterways through the enactment of the act and its strict enforcement by the provinces to reduce losses to the public and private properties and precious human lives from likely floods in the coming monsoon season,” remarked Vawda.

Ministry of Water Resources’ annual coordination session of the federal and provincial authorities held today, under Federal Flood Commission was to review preparedness for 2019-Monsoon Season.

The meeting was presided over by the Minister for Water Resources, Muhammad Faisal Vawda, noted with concern that encroachments in the river waterways besides major reservoirs built to hold excess water in case of floods have frequent housing and development in such magnitude that even the low floods could create havoc in the communities.

A recent example of this is the case of 105,000 cusecs outflow from Jhelum River at Mangla, added Vawda.

He urged the provinces and federal line agencies for prompt approval of their respective Flood Plain management Acts and their strict enforcement to prevent the encroachment in the waterways on a permanent basis.

Head of the Flood Forecasting Division, Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), Lahore apprised the meeting that this year’s monsoon rains would be normal with above normal rains being expected in Northern Areas (GB, KP, Punjab, AJ&K) which coupled with westerly incursion and snowmelt may result into an extreme flooding event.

The meeting expressed dissatisfaction over the late submission of priority flood protection projects by the provincial governments and hence their late implementation.

The Secretary Ministry of Water Resources urged the provinces and federal agencies for timely submission of PC-Is of emergent nature flood protection projects being funded through the federal Government PSDP so that their timely approval and implementations can be ensured in the best public interest towards protection from floods.

The meeting was attended by Mr. Muhammad Ashraf, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Mr. Ahmed Kamal, Chief Engineering Adviser & Chairman Federal Flood Commission and other senior officials of the related federal and provincial government organizations, including a representative from Pak Army to discuss all issues related to 2019 flood preparedness.

All the stakeholders briefed the meeting on pre-emptive measures taken to minimize the effects of damages in the event of the occurrence of floods.

The Federal Minister for Water Resources directed all concerned to remain vigilant with reinforced and round-the-clock coordination throughout the monsoon season.

Meeting was further informed that PMD’s and WAPDA’s related equipment are fully functional.

WASA Rawalpindi and District Government, Rawalpindi were directed for the complete clearing of Lai Nullah beds/ sides at critical locations from waste material dumped by the locals and also removal of encroachment at different places in compliance with the early warning system installed.

In view of forecast of rains and expected urban flooding, the provinces were advised to be fully vigilant and clear all storm drains in cities and towns especially in cities like Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Islamabad etc.