ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed the relevant authorities to enhance their preparedness and capacity to forestall natural disasters, following a recent tragedy in the Swat Valley in which several tourists lost their lives.
The Prime Minister issued the directives during a meeting with the Governor of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Faisal Karim Khan Kundi, the PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.
Governor Kundi briefed the Prime Minister on the tragic incident of the River Swat in which a number of tourists lost their lives.
The Prime Minister expressed his grief over the loss of lives and directed the relevant authorities to enhance their capacity building to forestall such occurrences.
During the meeting, the overall situation in the country was also discussed.
A devastating flash flood in the northwestern Swat Valley last week swept away 17 members of a single tourist family after a sudden surge in water levels.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) issued a fresh warning regarding flash floods and glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) events, citing severe weather conditions, as heavy monsoon rains killed 64 people across the country in one week.
Pakistan, with a population of over 240 million, is among the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, facing increasingly frequent and severe weather events such as heatwaves, droughts, and torrential rainfall.
In 2022, a combination of heavy monsoon rains and glacial melt triggered devastating floods that claimed more than 1,700 lives and caused damage estimated at over $33 billion.
