2-day SAARC meteorology moot inaugurated.

ISLAMABAD, June 08, 2009 (Balochistan Times) -- A two-day seminar on Interaction between Westerly and Easterly Troughs and their impacts on Weather over the SAARC Region was inaugurated here Monday. Secretary Defence Lt. Gen Syed Athar Ali was the chief guest who highlighted the need for launching more coordinated efforts to mitigate meteorological disasters and minimising the resultant losses. A lot remains to be understood in the science of meteorology. Delegates belonging to meteorological departments of all the member countries in the fold of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) have been participating in the moot. Secretary Defence said that the National Meteorological services in the region can further improve their weather forecasting capabilities through capacity building and enhanced meteorological research activities. This could also be done through technology sharing among the National Meteorological Services and meteorological research organizations of SAARC members as well as enhanced collaborative research activities at the forum of SAARC Meteorological Research Centre (SMRC). He said the Government of Pakistan is putting every effort in making Meteorological Department of the country a dynamic and progressive service organization in the concerned sector. Eulogizing the services of SMRC, he stated that it was a milestone in endeavours to mitigate through scientific approach the impacts of meteorological disaster. Director General Pakistan Meteorological Department Dr. Qamar-Uz Zaman Chaudhry speaking on the occasion said for achieving the millennium development goals and building safer world is only possible through effectively reducing damages from disasters triggered by natural events. This is not an easy task. The number of deaths from disasters is declining while the disaster frequencies and economic losses from it are increasing mainly because of increasing frequency of hydrometerological disasters, partly as a result of global climate change, he said. Statistics currently indicate that about 90 % of all natural disasters are of meteorological and hydrological origin, he said. He termed SAARC region as highly vulnerable to natural disasters such as floods, droughts, tropical changes and associated storm surges which year after year claim lives and cause damage to property. A representative of SMRC read out the message of Director SMRC Begum Arjumand Habib, stating that the second SAARC seminar of this year will be held in Dhaka in the second half of the year. The Seminar will aim at training on WRF modelling system.

(THROUGH ASIA PULSE)