Overview
- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who chaired a pre-monsoon review Thursday, ordered a high-level inquiry after learning the Gilgit-Baltistan early warning network for glacial lake outburst floods was still inactive.
- He directed federal ministries to work with provinces to remove policy bottlenecks, fully switch on digital monitoring and alert equipment, and hold departments to account for past directives that were ignored.
- The National Disaster Management Authority issued a nationwide heatwave alert through May 5, warning of dangerous temperatures in Sindh, southern Punjab and parts of Balochistan, including major cities such as Karachi and Multan.
- NDMA told administrations to activate heat plans, set up cooling centers and keep hospitals on high alert, while the Met Office forecast bursts of rain, dust storms and thunderstorms in northern and central districts from April 24 to 29.
- Officials said last year’s floods caused about Rs3,856 billion in damage with at least 1,006 deaths, and the prime minister cited riverbed encroachments as a key factor that must be tackled before the next monsoon.