Pakistani’s High Delegation visits Chinese Yangtze River Flood Plains

Pakistani high delegation comprising public representative, government officials, academia and civil society/NGOs activists visited Chinese Yangtze River floodplains.

Purpose of the Visit

The main purpose of the delegation was to observe the various efforts the Chinese Government have taken to manage flood plains to mitigate the flood losses through ecological/soft engineering (Non-Structural Measures) approaches especially wetland conservation and management. The importance of Non-Structural Measures through wetland management is globally recognized and they are cost effective and economically viable option for floodplain management. Therefore, Pakistan has to change national policies from hardcore engineering to ecological approaches and adopt Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) approaches so that instead of avoiding floods in future, we should rather welcome floods.

Way Forward:

1. Legislative development at National and Provincial levels
2. Wetland and Flood Plains Policy
3. Wetland and Flood plains Authority
4. Assessment of potential interventions in vulnerable areas
5. Appropriate funding mechanism
6. Bridging gap between Academia and Industry

Composition of delegation:

• Public Representative

1. Mia Muhammad Moeen Khan Wattoo, Member National Assembly from Punjab
2. Abdul Qahar Khan Wadan, Member National Assembly from Balochistan

• Army Corps of Engineers

1. Brigadier Rank
2. Colonel Rank

• Public Sector

1. Inspector General Forests, Ministry of Climate Change, Government of Pakistan
2. Additional Secretary, Forest Department, Government of Punjab

• Superintending Engineer, Irrigation Department, Government of Sindh
• NGOs

1. Masood Arshad, WWF
2. Faiz Kakar, IUCN

• Academia:

1. Ghulam Hussain Dars