Islamabad
Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) risk reduction project in Northern Areas of Pakistan (GLOF-II) will cover 15 districts benefiting 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.—APP
