Ministry of Climate Change will initiate Glacial Lake Outburst Flood-II (GLOF-II) Project at a cost of US$ 37 million with the support of Climate Change Fund.

According to senior officials of the ministry, under the project, 250 small-scale structures including check dams, mini dams, ponds, spillways and slope stabilization will be established. 50 weather monitoring stations and 408 river discharge gauges/ sensors will also be built as part of this initiative.

The project will be started in various areas of Gilgit-Baltistan including Gilgit, Ghizer, Hunza, Nagar, Diamir, Astor, Skardu, Shigar, Kharmang Ghanche and different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Chitral, Dir, Swat, Kohistan and Mansehra.

He said that Climate Change Council would be constituted as the apex decision making body under the Pakistan Climate Change Act, 2017.

He said that to make Climate Change Authority function, the ministry demanded the creation of 282 posts whereas Management Services Wing agreed to 124 posts, adding that case for the creation of 124 posts has been submitted to the ministry of Finance.

He said that both the Climate Change Council and Climate Change Authority will coordinate, monitor and supervise the implementation of the National Climate Change Policy and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Rising temperatures have melted glaciers, creating glacial lakes in Northern Pakistan. These carry the risk of outburst flooding events, threatening over 7 million people. Early warning systems, engineering structures and disaster management policies will reduce risk, protecting local communities and providing early warning of devastating flood events.

The project has an estimated lifespan of 15 years which will be completed by July 2022.