Flood protection plan awaits K-P nod

CCI had asked provincial govts to pool in 50% of the project funding

ISLAMABAD: Despite sending numerous reminders to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government, the federal government has not yet received any response from the provincial government over the draft PC-1 of the National Flood Protection Plan (NFPP) Phase-IV worth Rs177.6 billion which has already been endorsed by all other provincial governments.

Meanwhile, considering the situation and to avoid any further delay, the Federal Flood Commission of Pakistan and Ministry of Water Resources has already submitted concept clearance paper of the NFPP to the Planning Commission of Pakistan, an official privy to the development confirmed to The Express Tribune.



The official said that Sindh was the first province to approve this plan followed by Balochistan and then a few months ago Punjab had given a green signal and now only K-P is left. “The federal government has written seven to eight letters to the concerned provincial department as a reminder in this regard, but there has been no response,” said the official.

He further said that now Planning Commission of Pakistan has assured the FFC and Ministry of Water Resources that the concept clearance plan will be tabled before the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) in its next meeting.

“Once it is cleared, the federal government through Economic Affairs Division would start requesting for foreign funding for the NFPP,” said the official.



The official was of the view that considering the impact of climate change in the region, currently the NFPP is the need of the hour as it would help the government to minimise human and economic loss as much as possible whenever there emerges any flood-like situation.

Last year in May, the Council of Common Interests (CCI) had approved Rs177.6 billion for the NFPP Phase-IV, of which 50% will be provided by the federal government and the rest pooled from the provincial governments.

According to official documents, the NFPP is a 10-year plan spanning from 2016 to 2026. It aims at developing an integrated flood management system by focusing on reservoir operations, flood forecasting and early warning, flood risk zoning, watershed management, flood proofing and insurance, disaster management, and other non-infrastructural measures.