The
United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) and partners have launched a project to upgrade the early
warning system in Pakistan, which last year experienced the worst
flooding in 80 years, according to a UN news release issued by the
Paris-based agency.Heavy monsoon rains in July 2010 battered the
provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan, causing
floods that affected over 20 million people, killed nearly 2,000 and
made 1.9 million homeless.
The
project, implemented by UNESCO, in cooperation with the Pakistan
Government and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, aims at ,
among other things, reducing the human and socio-economic impact of the
floods and encouraging the development of safer dwellings close to
flood plains. There are
also plans to draw detailed maps of areas vulnerable to flooding in the Indus valley, the news release said.
Given that most of the headwaters of the Indus’s main tributaries are in neighbouring countries, the project also aims at establishing local and international platforms for the sharing of hydro-meteorological observations, it said.
The project, which is part of its efforts to help Pakistan tackle natural disasters, will benefit from the technical expertise of the International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management, which has developed an integrated flood analysis system using data provided by satellites. APP
also plans to draw detailed maps of areas vulnerable to flooding in the Indus valley, the news release said.
Given that most of the headwaters of the Indus’s main tributaries are in neighbouring countries, the project also aims at establishing local and international platforms for the sharing of hydro-meteorological observations, it said.
The project, which is part of its efforts to help Pakistan tackle natural disasters, will benefit from the technical expertise of the International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management, which has developed an integrated flood analysis system using data provided by satellites. APP
