Flood risk: Around Leh, early warning system offline

Without informing Met Office, interior ministry allocates frequency to NADRA to run Safe City Project.

ISLAMABAD: Monsoon is just around the corner and many low-lying areas along Nullah Leh are at risk because of the out-of-order flood warning system (FWS) set up for the river.

At a Frequency Allocation Board conference held at the Ministry of Interior on Wednesday, Met officials informed National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Maj-Gen Asghar Nawaz that the frequency the FWS was using has been reallocated to the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) to run the Safe City Project, leaving the FWS along Nullah Leh virtually dysfunctional.

While considering the gravity of the situation, the NDMA chairman urged the board head to resolve the issue before the onset of the monsoon season.

The FWS was installed along Nullah Leh by the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) in 2006.

A Rawalpindi district government official, while asking not to be named, told The Express Tribune that without the FWS, it was not possible to measure the water level in the river and issue flash flood alerts.

“Due to the system not working, life and property in low-lying areas is at constant risk,” he said, adding that the interior ministry allocated the frequency to NADRA without informing the Met office.

He claimed that due to the absence of the allocated frequency, they have no records of water levels in the river after November 2015.

PMD chief Dr Ghulam Rasul said that after the issue was raised at the meeting, NADRA agreed to return the frequency.

Weather updates

The Met office on Wednesday forecast pre-monsoon rains in upper parts of the country from Wednesday evening till Friday.

The Met office said that pre-monsoon currents were penetrating in upper Punjab and Kashmir and a fresh westerly wave was also likely to approach upper parts of the country on Wednesday evening.

Rain, dust, storms and thunder storms are expected at scattered places in Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat divisions and Islamabad from Wednesday evening to Thursday. Isolated heavy rain was also expected in Rawalpindi and Gujranwala divisions and Islamabad on Thursday.

Rain-thunderstorm with gusty winds was also expected at scattered places in Malakand, Hazara divisions, FATA, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir from Wednesday evening to Friday.

The Met office said that two spells of pre-monsoon rain are likely across the country during the coming week.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16^th, 2016.