- PM says enemy wanted to take steps against waters treaty.
- Seeks mechanism for weather warnings, calamity threats.
- Appreciates NDMA for relief operations to Turkiye, Myanmar.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday in view of India’s nefarious designs to weaponise water, the government had decided to enhance the water storage capacity in the country.
During a visit to the National Emergencies Operations Centre (NEOC), the prime minister said that an international court (Permanent Court of Arbitration) announced a supplemental order, emphasising that India had no authority to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty unilaterally.
“But the enemy has certain evil designs against Pakistan and wanted to take steps against the waters treaty,” he said adding that in view of this, the government had decided to fast-track the non-controversial water storage capacity projects under Water Accord with the provinces, as the same had a legal provision in this regard.
He stressed that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) had a critical role in this regard also.
The prime minister directed that weather warnings and calamity threats should be regularly issued through SMS and phone messages in collaboration with PTA.
In his remarks telecast on the national TV channels, he further recollected the disastrous impacts of the catastrophic floods during 2022, causing the entire country to suffer from the trails of natural calamity.
PM Shehbaz said Pakistan, unfortunately, was among the countries on the world map which could be hit by natural disasters like cloudbursts despite the fact that the country had hardly any contribution to the greenhouse effect.
During the year 2022, Pakistan had suffered more than any country in the world, he observed.
The premier further said that the glacial melting due to heat waves also demanded the highest level of preparedness.
“What happened in Swat in which precious lives were lost, engulfed the entire nation in a pall of gloom,” he said and stressed that they should take an honest review of the incident, directing a formulation of a comprehensive mechanism in collaboration with the provinces to prevent such occurrences in the future.
The prime minister also directed for compilation of a report in this regard.
He opined that in the aftermath of the floods of 2022, the relevant ministers negotiated the grants and public-private partnership for building resilient infrastructure in the country.
Premier Shehbaz appreciated the facility of the NEOC and expressed the hope that the relevant authorities would fully utilise this resilient platform for the progress of the country’s economy and social sectors.
He also assured complete support of the government in strengthening the institute and its capacity building.
The prime minister further appreciated the NDMA, saying that he was glad it had organised relief operations seamlessly to Turkiye and Myanmar.
He hoped that this world-class facility was connected with the provinces, and with interventions like an early warning system, had been conveying the provinces the real-time information.
During his visit, the prime minister was given a briefing by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik over the current monsoon season, the floods situation and the precautionary measures taken in this regard.
