Three days “International Conference on Integrated Flood Management Under Changing Climate Scenario (IFMCC 2023)” organised by the USPCAS-W, Mehran UET Jamshoro

Threw days “International Conference on Integrated Flood Management Under Changing Climate Scenario (IFMCC)” organised by the U.S.- Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro in collaboration with Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinjiang, China.

Chief Guest of the event, Prof. Dr Tauha Hussain Ali, Vice Chancellor MUET, Jamshoro; Guest of Honor, Mr Mohsin Hafeez, Country Representative, IWMI, Pakistan; and Guest of Honor Shiekh Tanveer Ahmed, Chief Executive, HANDS Pakistan, graced their presence in the International conference.

Director USPCAS-W, Prof. Dr Rasool Bux Mahar, welcomed all the dignitaries and national and International Speakers from around the world. He said how to protect and sustain a friendly and safe environment for children and future generations. Dr Mahar said we witnessed two floods, one in 2010 and the second in 2022 flood and we beared huge losses in these two floods. He added we thought to organise an International Conference on Flood Management and invite different Professionals, engineers, academia and stakeholders to discuss issues and come up with solutions and recommendations, a way forward to mitigate these challenges. Dr Mahar said we selected 60 papers after reviewing the 100 received papers. He added that this conference would generate interest and fruitful discussions and help identify a way forward for the engagement of water-related stakeholders to improve the water security situation in the country.

Ghulam Hussain, AP, USPCAS-W, presented a conference report. He said the conference brought together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and stakeholders worldwide to discuss the latest development in flood management and share the best practices.

Dr Dars said the conference comprises four themes include, Flood Forecasting, modelling, vulnerability & Risk Management; Flood management with innovative approaches; & rehabilitation & recovery, Flood damage & Impact assessment and Climate change impacts; WEF Nexus; Socio-economic impacts; sensitivity, and uncertainty analyses, Governance, Extreme Events (Floods, droughts, heat, waves, GLOFs), Groundwater Management.

Among International speakers, Prf. Dr Weili Duan, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology & Geography, China; Prof. Dr Yan-Jun Shen, CAS-China; Prof. Takahiro Sayama, Kyoto University, Japan; Prof. Dr Pingping Luo, Chang’an University, China, Prof. Dr Gonguan, Fang, China, Dr Aamir Motlag, California State University, USA, and Engr Aziz Mahar, USA showed how climate effects extreme precipitation events and generate floods using different modelling techniques under RCP climate scenarios.

Dr Mohsin Hafeez showed the national water security index in which Pakistan stands at number 60; that shows the country’s vulnerability to extreme events due to climate change. He also describes the challenges in the Indus Basin. Engr Zarif Khero, Chief Engineer, Irrigation Department GoS, explained the flood mechanism and management issues on both sides of the Indus river Sindh.

Prof. Dr Altaf A Siyal, Dean SAU, Tando Jam, presented the history of the floods in Sindh and the driving mechanism of the flood in this region. He also proposed innovative approaches and solutions to manage the floods in Sindh Province.

Dr Muhammad Abubakar, Department Chair, LUMS, Lahore, explained the condition over three sides in Sindh province before the flooding condition of 2022 flood. He focused on earth observation technologies in crop yield forecasting in different modelling tools.

Dr Sheikh Tanveer Ahmed Explained how HANDS Pakistan helped government agencies in the rehabilitation and recovery stages.

Dr Zia Hasmi, GCISC, explained that water security concerns climate change, including the retreating of the glaciers, temperature increase, especially in high mountains, uncertain precipitation patterns and deterioration of the Indus Delta. At the end of his speech, he highlighted focusing on adoption measures to manage limited freshwater resources holistically.

Dr Zakir Dahiri, DG, PARC, explained the flood management challenges in the context of climate change. He also shared a few studies on managing floods. Eng Ali Asgar Halepoto, Chief Water Planning Commission, presented the National Water Policy, institutional arrangements, financial strategy, Post flood initiative and projects Federal Government is funding and executing in the country.

Kamran Jan Ansari, Co-director of USPCAS-W, presented the Conference Report. Senator Nisar Ahmed Memon (Chairman WEForum), Prof. Dr Khan Muhammad Brohi, Dean FACE, MUET, Jamshoro, Faculty members, stakeholders and various government and private departments attended the conference.