GLOF-II To Cover 15 Districts Benefiting 29 Million People

Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) risk reduction project in Northern Areas of Pakistan (GLOF-II) will cover 15 districts benefitting around 29 million people in the region with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) funded US$ 37 million

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Jul, 2019 ) :Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) risk reduction project in Northern Areas of Pakistan (GLOF-II) will cover 15 districts benefitting around 29 million people in the region with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) funded US$ 37 million.

Talking to APP, an official of the ministry of Climate Change (MoCC) said that Scaling-up of GLOF risk reduction in Northern Pakistan (GLOF-II) project was a continuation of the four years -Reducing Risks and Vulnerabilities from GLOF in Northern Pakistan"(GLOF-I)" project funded by Adaptation Fund.

He said that the GLOF-II was based on the measures piloted by GLOF-I and aimed at empowering communities to identify and manage risks associated with GLOFs. And also related impacts of climate change and improve community preparedness and disaster response, he added.

"GLOF-II will scale up GLOF-I from its original two districts (one each in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB)) to cover the 15 districts benefiting approximately 29 million people of the country," he said.

In response to the emergency, the official said at Hassan Abad due to surging of Shishper Glacier and formation of glacial lake the GLOF-II project had sponsored a joint mission of Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) and Gilgit Baltistan Disaster Management Authority (GBDMA). The combined mission comprised the experts of both the institutions to conduct feasibility and install Early Warning System (EWS), he added.

As a result, he said the EWS was installed there to avoid and reduce the impact of hazards such as flash floods created due to lake outbursts phenomenon.

In addition after launching of the project in GB and KP, implementation of activities was being facilitated as per the approved Annual Work Plan, he added.

To a question, he said by the end of the project at least 250 targeted engineering structures (check dams, mini dams, ponds, spillways, slope stabilization), 50 weather-monitoring stations (28 in GB and 22 in KP) and 408 river discharge gauges/sensors (238 in GB and 170 KP) would be installed enabling 100 per cent of households in targeted communities to receive and respond to early warnings and take the appropriate actions following the warning.

However, the procurement of necessary equipment for Provincial Disaster Management Authorities had been initiated which would strengthen their capacity to properly respond these kind of disasters, the official said.

Answering another question, he said, "The project has also initiated work on conducting important feasibility studies in order to identify the potential sites for installation of EWS and development of required infrastructure in order to reduce the vulnerability of local communities." MoCC and the United Nations Development Programme Pakistan in consultation with relevant provincial departments was closely working to make this first GCF project a success story and were committed to provide their full support to local communities within the project framework, he noted.