PM forms committee to boost Pakistan's disaster and climate resilience

ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has established a 13-member committee to formulate strategies aimed at strengthening Pakistan’s resilience against extreme weather events, including cloudbursts, flash floods, and urban flooding.

Chaired by Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal, the committee includes federal ministers, secretaries, experts, and key stakeholders from across the country.

The move comes after devastating floods and heavy rains in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Gilgit-Baltistan, which have claimed over 840 lives since late June and caused extensive damage to infrastructure and property. In Punjab alone, at least 33 people have died, more than 2 million have been affected, and 2,200 villages remain submerged.

The committee’s mandate includes reviewing current disaster preparedness and response mechanisms, evaluating critical infrastructure, and recommending measures to address environmental and urban vulnerabilities.

According to the official notification from the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, the Terms of Reference (TORs) cover assessing flood protection and drainage infrastructure, exploring funding options (including climate finance) for PSDP projects, and suggesting legal measures to curb deforestation and environmental degradation.

The body will also propose targeted interventions to reduce urban flooding, evaluate early warning systems, recommend the installation of modern radars, and enhance the capacities of federal and provincial disaster management authorities, particularly the NDMA.

The committee is expected to submit its report or presentation to the prime minister within 10 days, with secretarial support provided by the Ministry of Climate Change.

In parallel, a special policy dialogue forum has been formed to engage provincial governments, federal ministries, semi-government bodies, civil society, and media representatives. Meetings will be held fortnightly to develop short-, medium-, and long-term strategies for climate adaptation and disaster mitigation.

This forum comprises federal ministers for climate change, communications, and water resources, the Prime Minister’s advisers on Political Affairs and Inter-Provincial Coordination, federal secretaries, the NDMA chairman, provincial secretaries for irrigation and environment, representatives from Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, and the Director General of the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).