National Consultative Workshop on Drought.
NDMA organized a one-day national consultative workshop on drought on 18th January 2019, in Islamabad. The workshop was intended to analyze the effectiveness of the response measures taken by Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMAs) and to identify gaps in the response operations, taken to address the situation. It also had the purpose to get valuable feedback and suggestions from experts of various agencies to develop a comprehensive national strategy to reduce the severe impacts of drought on the region.
President Dr. Arif Alvi, graced the occasion as chief guest while many other dignitaries including Deputy Chairman Senate Saleem Madviwalla, State Minister for Climate Change Ms. Zartaj Gul, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mr. Ali Muhammad Khan, parliamentarians from drought hit areas, United Nations Resident Coordinator Neil Buhne, Chairman NDMA, Lt Gen Omar Mahmood Hayat, representatives from PDMA Sindh and Balochistan and representatives from civil society organizations attended the workshop.
The President said that shortage of water in the country was a severe issue and stressed the need for taking emergency steps to control the challenge by increasing water reservoirs and adopting sustainable steps for use and conservation of water. He further added that water issue in Balochistan had reached to an alarming stage and time had come to take emergency steps to resolve it. He said that special attention would have to be paid to control scarcity of water issues in Sindh and Balochistan where several areas were facing drought.
President Alvi said the countries where facility of water storage was available, could confront the challenge of drought, but added that Pakistan’s water storage capacity was shrinking and stressed to remain vigilant in that regard.
Deputy Chairman Senate Saleem Madviwalla Friday asked National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to take the parliament on board along with the Federal government, for disaster mitigation endeavors in the affected areas of the country. He said that some global reports put Pakistan as third water-scarce country of the world which was contributing more to aggravate the drought conditions prevailing in the country. He said the secretary agriculture Balochistan informed that the underground water table had receded below 800 feet to 1200 feet whereas same situation is in Sindh's districts of Tharparker, Metiari, Dadu, Hyderabad and others which had increased the risks for social and agricultural development in the province,
Chairman NDMA, Lt Gen Omar Mahmood Hayat said that drought had been a harsh reality for the region owing to its topography and climatology, enabling a natural setting for the onset of such natural calamities. He highlighted that the drought in 2018 has severely affected agriculture and livestock sectors of 8 districts of Sindh and 18 of Balochistan resulting in the loss and unavailability of food for half a million families and fodder for over millions of livestock," he said.
NDMA in collaboration with PDMAs of Sindh and Balochistan held consultative seminars to mull over the prevailing drought phenomenon in the provinces and formulated a comprehensive report submitted to the President and Prime Minister offices for approval and also with other relevant stakeholders, the Chairman said.
United Nations Resident Coordinator Neil Buhne said that NDMA was among the world's best disaster management agencies and its endeavors for drought and other disaster mitigation measures were evident to the fact.
He said that drought was one component of climate change interacting with stunted growth and other complex health issues. "Disaster brings poverty and takes advantage of weak points in disaster management. Pakistan has to adopt climate change owing to its vulnerability whereas children and women are often the sufferers in calamities which need to be addressed,"
Presentation(click the relevant link to download)
Pakistan Agriculture Research Council
Assessment Report (Click to view)
Sindh Drought Need Assessment Report by NDC