Averting disasters : ‘Planning can mitigate climate change impact’

NDMA spokesperson says authority needs to upgrade its technology.

ISLAMABAD: Appropriate planning and putting effective strategy in place could help mitigate the adverse impact of global meteorological changes that has reached extreme levels due to global warming and changing climate patterns.

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Spokesperson Ahmed Kamal said that natural disasters were unavoidable but the damage from such tragedies could be lowered reasonably by keeping an affective and comprehensive strategy in place to address certain key issues.

Commenting on the dust-storm which hit twin cities on June 1, with the recorded intensity of 150 kilometres per hour, he said that the dust storm developed in Malakand but aggravated in Rawalpindi and Islamabad due to urban heat.

Kamal stressed that the Pakistan Meteorological Department needed to update their technology to be more effective in the wake of the changing climate patterns.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 13^th, 2016.