Peshawar-Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF-II) project of the UNDP organised a district-level stakeholder coordination and communication workshop in Upper Chitral wherein objectives and progress of the project were discussed and feedback was received from the communities and government departments for immediate action.
A press release said the workshop was conducted by the provincial team of the GLOF-II project and attended by the representatives of the line departments including District Administration, Social Welfare Department, Forest Department, Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Irrigation Department, Rescue 1122, and members of the local Community-Based Disaster Risk Management Committee.
The overall impact of climate change on Pakistan and the mitigation actions by the GLOF-II Project were also discussed.
The general secretary of the Community-Based Disaster Risk Management Committee Muhammad Nabi Khan said on the occasion that Reshun is one of the most vulnerable valleys of Chitral, which is evident from the damages caused by the recent floods as well as the overwhelming river there.
He said they were anxiously awaiting the early warning systems as promised by the programme, as the installation of the early warning system would save them from damages caused by the wrath of nature by timely intimating them against the floods.
Tehsil Nazim Sardar Hakim said it was good to notice that three of the most vulnerable valleys of Upper and Lower Chitral are part of the GLOF-II programme but that there are dozens of other valleys which are equally vulnerable and require immediate attention.
He requested the GLOF-II management and UNDP to scale up their interventions and include all the vulnerable valleys of Chitral in the project scope.