ISLAMABAD – Speakers at a workshop have stressed the need of developing early drought warning system for facilitating growers and public at large.
The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Pakistan organized the consultative workshop attended by representatives Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), National Drought & Risk Management Fund (NDRMF), National Drought Monitoring Centre (NDMC), Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), and academia.
They highlighted importance of real-time monitoring, collaboration among institutions, and timely dissemination of information among farmers and the public. Anticipatory actions and decision support mechanisms were also emphasized. The workshop emphasized gender inclusive drought management and recommended using drought indices suitable for different agro-ecological zones.
Mahr Sahibzad Khan, PMD Director General highlighted Pakistan’s vulnerability to climate change. According to him, “Drought is known to be the most complex disasters to assess. Pakistan is experiencing flash droughts and we need to work collectively to address these challenges.”
According to Dr Mohsin Hafeez, Director – Water, Food and Ecosystems, IWMI, “IWMI Pakistan will be developing EDWS for Pakistan. It will have the interface for experts and a simplified version for general public. Under the WRAP Programme Component 1: CRS-IWaG, a working group on drought monitoring is going to be established. Media will also be taken onboard, so that they could use the data in their reporting for awareness raising.”
Under this programme, Chakwal has been selected as the pilot district for the implementation of EDWS. A state-of-the-art eddy covariance flux tower will be installed in Chakwal district to monitor the exchange of carbon emissions and water fluxes in the atmosphere, therefore contributing towards drought monitoring in Punjab.
Dr Giriraj Amarnath, Research Group Leader, Water Risk to Development and Resilience, IWMI-Sri Lanka, gave an overview of IWMI’s drought resilient initiatives and projects being implemented around the globe. He also shared an overview of South Asia Drought Monitoring System (SADMS), which will be introduced in Pakistan. SADMS strengthens regional to sub-national drought monitoring and management as an important step towards proactively enhancing drought resilience and risk mitigation.
