Rawalpindi - Employing efficient irrigation techniques, constructing smaller dams, developing risk management capability, timely assessment of water levels in rivers and efficient early warning systems are a few suggestions that experts propose for Pakistan to minimise the impact of floods and droughts that keep on devastating the country over the years. Moreover, mass awareness about climate change adaptations has been described as crucial in the whole process.
Speaking at a three-day training workshop on “Assessment of Climate Change Impact on a Watershed Hydrology and Hydrological Modeling in Cold Region Basins” organised by Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) in cooperation with the university of Tokyo, Japan and sponsored by the Asia Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN), Dr Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry, Secretary-General for Asia Pacific, stressed enhancing cooperation at regional level.
“Lot of study is required to know what kind of climate change is expected and possible scenarios. For instance, there are conflicting reports on rapid glacial melting. We need closer working relationships with other scientists of the region and detailed studies to understand it,” he said
He said that the recent floods in Pakistan could have been managed properly with timely and proper communication between the authorities in India and Pakistan. Currently communication was being done through a fax and that a lot of precious warning time was being wasted that led to massive loss.
Dr Amir Ahmad, APN representative of Pakistan, said that extreme events related to climate change were likely to increase and droughts and floods would be severe in future. “Due to improper management most of the time we mourn for shortage of water and sometime due to excess of water,” Dr Ahmad said.
Prof Dr Toshio Koike of the University of Tokyo stressed interaction between science community and the society to convey the knowledge to masses.
He said that human-induced problems of pollution, desertification, deforestation and urbanisation had posed lots of risks to sustainable development and that there was a need to improve risk management capability, vigilance, monitoring capability and decision-making on the basis of data.
Dr Koike added that the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)/Asian Water Cycle Initiative (AWCI) provided a regional collaborative framework for 18 member countries of AWCI to address the common water-related problems in Asia.
The vision of GEOSS was to realise a future. The AWCI had established a successful system for in-situ data provision and management that is based on clear data sharing policy, continuous interaction with country representatives and maximum technical support for data provider.
Dr Ghulam Rasul, chief meteorologist, PMD, said that without adaptations there was no other way to deal with the climate change. He said monsoons were getting stronger and erratic and the country was confronted with multiple challenges. Ever-increasing population in Pakistan demanded more water, food and energy.
“In case of water scarcity, pressure on ground water will increase that will lead to its depletion, as the recharge is not good enough. Another challenge is to crops like Sugarcane and rice that demand a lot of irrigation. We will have to look for other crops that can survive in future climatic conditions.” Dr Rasul said.