SWAT: Meteorologists have issued a ‘calamity warning’ for Swat, Shangla and its surrounding areas due to climate change, resulting in prolonged summers and short-term winters, saying these areas might be affected by floods and land sliding.
These views were expressed by the experts during a daylong workshop titled “Reduction in climate change and natural disasters” arranged by an NGO called ‘Lasoona’ at Saidu Sharif Swat. Pakistan Meteorological Department Director General Dr Muhammad Hanif, Bahauddin Zikriya University Professor Dr Saifullah Khan, and Agricultural University Peshawar Professor Dr Inam Ullah Khan, while presenting their reports, said that 20 years ago the summer season in Pakistan lasted around 150 days. It has now risen to 170 days, averaging an extra day’s summer every year. Likewise, the winter season has reduced from 120 days to 110 days.
Experts said if relentless cutting of forests and trees was not contained, then the possibility of torrential rains and floods in Malakand and Hazara divisions would become imminent. The monsoon rains may start at the end of June instead of July and there could be a surge in rainfall during the monsoon season. He said it was due to climate change that the spell of rains from September to January has decreased, while rainfall between February and August had risen, something he said was alarming.
Dr Inamullah Khan said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has the capacity to grow 32,000 tonnes of wheat each year whereas only 7,000 tons were reaped due to unexpected changes in climate. He said that 90 per cent of the people in Swat and Shangla do not sufficient food resources while in Kohistan, virtually everyone was deprived of healthy food resources. Earlier, Executive Director Lasoona Azam Khan explained objectives of the workshop and presented a documentary regarding the climate change in our region.
