ISLAMABAD: Climate Change, Federal Minister, Mushahid Ullah Khan said urban flooding phenomenon is becoming common in Pakistan because of erratic weather patterns caused due to global warming, which has been leading to significant impacts on socio-economic lives.
However, these negative impacts of the flooding can be mitigated and the urban centres of the countries can be made flood-resilient through sustainable and environmental-friendly urban planning, he suggested. He expressed these views here at his office during a meeting with climate change and urban flooding experts. “In Pakistan, increasing population in urban centres has led to population concentration, which has escalated pressure on ailing urban infrastructures. This has made the cities vulnerable to climate change impacts in shape of urban flooding, heavy rains,” he highlighted.
Mushahid Ullah said that sustainable and environmental-friendly urban planning with major focus on water and sanitation infrastructure, housing sector, economic centres can help mitigate impacts of heavy rains, floods on these fundamental urban infrastructures. For, this is critical for making the socio-economic lives in the urban areas unaffected.
Expanding urban centres have led to unprecedented rise in indoor and outdoor pollution and environmental degradation of natural resources. As a result, overall quality of lives of the city dwellers has been getting affected negatively, which leads to an array of health problems, the minister observed.
Besides, he warned that the frequency of urban flood because of heavy rains is most likely to increase in the country because of rapidly changing climatic conditions. “This underlines the need for initiatives that can make our urban centres economically, socially and environmentally sustainable and liveable,” Mushahid Ullah stressed.
Referring to the current weird pattern of rains in the country, particularly in northern parts, the minister said that such odd rains have not been witnessed in the country over last several years and this indicates that how weather has become erratic and unpredictable, which led to flooding, particularly in the urban areas.
“But mitigating the negative impacts of such weird rains and weather patterns can be mitigated and people can be prepared to adapt to these climatic changes on their lives and livelihoods through policy measures such as climate-resilient construction and building new cities at a distance from each other,” he said.
Meanwhile, he pressed on the need for awareness-raising this regard to prepare people for dealing with such negative impacts and media can play key role in this regard.
In other related news, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has directed the Solid Waste Management Company (SWMC) to stop dumping garbage near the Swan River. Mian Muhammad Nawaz, according to District Officer EPA the agency had issued a directive in this regard taking cognizance of the complaints of people living in adjoining areas of the Swan River. He said the SWMC was dumping the garbage collected from the city near the Swan River making the area a filth depot. The garbage was blocking the Swan River, which once used to be a source of clean water.
The EPA, he said, had directed the SWMC to clear the area and dump solid waste and garbage at Losar landfill site.
The residents of areas adjoining the Swan River have also expressed their concern at the presence of garbage dump in the area, as it is a health hazard. They complained that hundreds of tons of garbage and solid waste were dumped near river daily. Many people had suffered from different diseases owing to environmental pollution created by the filth depot, they added.
They also complained that polluted water from Nullah Leh also fells into the Swan River. Hamid Nawaz, a resident of Swan area, said a large quantity of waste was also thrown into the Swan River by the residents of adjoining areas and there was no sewage treatment plant in Rawalpindi.
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