Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

PAKISTAN: New flood warning system in Rawalpindi
08 Jul 2008 16:41:38 GMT
 Source: IRIN

Background

•  S. Asia monsoon

•  Floods

MORE >>
ISLAMABAD, 8 July 2008 (IRIN) - About 150,000 people living alongside Leh Nullah, a drainage channel running through Rawalpindi, should benefit from a new flood warning system launched on 7 July with Japanese assistance.

The drainage channel is prone to flooding, particularly during the monsoon season.

This has from time to time created havoc. In July 2001, 74 lives were lost and 3,000 houses destroyed after the drainage channel burst its banks.

The incident led to discussion of the need for a flood warning system. Since 2001, periodic flooding of houses alongside the channel has taken place, with the latest flooding just a few days ago, when heavy rain lashed Rawalpindi.

"Water creeps rapidly over the banks and into homes. It makes for very difficult living conditions," said Rabia Bibi, 45, who lives near the channel. She told IRIN: "Each year people have to move away during the rains because of water entering homes."

Thanks to Japan

Speaking at the launch of the Leh Nullah Flood Forecasting and Warning System, Pakistani Water and Power Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf thanked the Japanese government and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for their cooperation.

The Japanese ambassador to Pakistan, Seiji Kojima, said his country "would make all possible efforts" to help Pakistan with disaster management. The lack of disaster preparedness in Pakistan has been attributed by international agencies to much of the human suffering caused last year by the cyclone that hit coastal areas.

In recent days, seminars and drills have also been held, under Japanese supervision, to educate people on early warning systems and how to respond to them. Local officials have also been trained. JICA has set up the new warning system at a cost of around US$5.5 million.

The project was started after the Pakistan government in August 2005 made a formal request. Equipment was provided by the Federal Flood Commission, the Pakistan Metrological Department and civic agencies in Rawalpindi.

Under the system, any flood warning would trigger rescue agencies in Islamabad to set off alarms.

The need for early flood warning systems has been raised in Pakistan at various official and non-official forums. The effectiveness of the Nullah Leh system will be monitored closely over the coming weeks: Monsoon rains have already begun to fall across Pakistan, triggering the annual flooding and rain damage that affects tens of thousands of people every year. A heavy monsoon in northern areas has been forecast by the Metrological Department.

kh/at/cb

© IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.IRINnews.org


AlertNet news is provided by
Email this article       Send comments

Topics

•  Floods

•  Disaster mitigation

MORE >>

Emergencies

•  S. Asia monsoon

MORE >>

NGO latest

•  New homes for survivors of Bangladesh cyclone
Red Cross - UK

•  UMCOR Hotline for July 1, 2008
UMCOR - USA

•  Aid Agencies to Deliver U.S. Food Assistance to North Koreans
Mercy Corps

•  ADRA Aids Typhoon Fengshen Survivors in Philippines
ADRA - International

•  ACT Rapid Response Payment for Floods in Assam, Orissa and West Bengal, India
ACT - Switzerland

MORE >>

Latest news

•  PAKISTAN: New flood warning system in Rawalpindi

•  SRI LANKA: Children as early detectors, preventers of disaster

•  Afghanistan says foreign agents behind embassy bomb

•  Embassy attack hardens Afghan mistrust of Pakistan

•  Embassy bomb has hallmarks of spy agency-Afghan govt

MORE >>

IRIN news

Interested in humanitarian issues? Take a quick survey here.

Related articles

Breaking stories
 PAKISTAN: New flood warning system in Rawalpindi (1 minute ago)

SRI LANKA: Children as early detectors, preventers of disaster (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
 Where's the global food crisis taking us? (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
 New homes for survivors of Bangladesh cyclone (1 minute ago)

Blogs
 Vietnam's children get ready for climate disasters (1 minute ago)

Maps
 MAP: India floods (as of June 16) (1 minute ago)


Country information

Briefings
S. Asia monsoon - [Who works where]

Topics
Floods Disaster mitigation
Facts & figures
Pakistan

Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-07-08T102453Z_01_DEL05-_RTRIDSP_2_AFGHAN-BLAST_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/DEL05.,.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-07-08T102424Z_01_DEL04-_RTRIDSP_2_AFGHAN-BLAST_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/DEL04.,.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-07-08T055819Z_01_KAB02_RTRIDSP_2_AFGHAN-BLAST-PAKISTAN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/KAB02.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-07-08T055724Z_01_KAB01_RTRIDSP_2_AFGHAN-BLAST-PAKISTAN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/KAB01.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-07-07T144224Z_01_KAB29_RTRIDSP_2_AFGHAN-ATTACK_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/KAB29.htm

Activists of Samajwadi Party (youth) burn an effigy of what they call "terrorism" during a protest against yesterday's bomb blast near the Indian Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, in the northern Indian ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Tue Jul 8 16:43:10 2008