Monsoon measures: Provinces given heads up

All provincial chief secretaries requested to follow weather updates

ISLAMABAD: With the monsoon season fast approaching, the Met Office has for the first time written separate letters to all the provincial chief secretaries, calling for extra precautionary measures before the start of rains.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has predicted above average rainfall across the country in the upcoming monsoon season. Monsoon will be especially active along the Suleiman Range, producing occasional heavy downpours that may generate flash floods and hill torrents in DG Khan and Rajanpur.

In each letter, the Met Office has highlighted all those areas where heavy downpours are expected during monsoon, which is likely to start from July and continue till September and may result in flash floods and landslides.



The chief secretaries they have been requested to keep in touch with the PMD for forecast information and pay frequent visits to its official website for weather and flood updates. The letters, a copy of which was obtained by The Express Tribune, show the Met Office has given a complete summer monsoon outlook for the entire country, including Azad Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan.

In Punjab, heavy rainfall may cause urban flooding in large cities. The tributaries of Chenab and Ravi rivers are also expected to be in high flood due to heavy rains in the catchment area.

In Sindh, heavy rains may result in urban flooding in Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Badin, Sukkur and Larkana, among others. Heavy spells of rain in the upper catchment areas of the Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej rivers may cause riverine flooding downstream Guddu.

In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, there is a high probability of frequent heavy downpours, which may result in flash floods and landslides in hilly areas. The above-normal rainfall may also cause riverine floods in Kabul, Swat, Panjkora, Chitral rivers and their local tributaries. Increased melting of snow, coupled with monsoon rains, is likely to trigger glacial lakes outburst floods (GLOFs) near Chitral.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2016.