Minister calls for satellite mapping of floodplains before monsoon

Federal Minister for Climate Change Dr Musadik Malik called on Saturday for greater use of satellite technology, artificial intelligence and digital modelling in Pakistan's disaster preparedness, speaking at the closing ceremony of an international conference in Islamabad.

The conference was titled "Leveraging Space Technology for Early Warning for All, Climate Action and Disaster Risk Assessment". Malik said the aim was to protect vulnerable communities from climate-related hazards, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

UrduPoint reported that Pakistan plans an annual satellite-based report mapping construction on floodplains, to be produced before the next monsoon. That report did not name the department that would compile it, the cost, or when the first edition would appear.

Both outlets reported the plan as coming out of the minister's address. APP framed the event around Malik's call for space technology, artificial intelligence and digital modelling to be used for disaster preparedness, and UrduPoint framed the same address around a yearly satellite report on floodplain construction.

Neither outlet published the full text of the speech. APP's report, filed from Islamabad on Saturday, said the minister told the ceremony that the government would work towards the plan, but the published copy stopped before setting out what he said the government would do.

Neither report said whether the mapping plan has been approved by the federal cabinet or whether money has been earmarked for it. Neither named the other governments, agencies or institutions that took part in the conference, which APP described as international.

The minister's remarks focused on the use of satellite data, artificial intelligence and digital modelling as tools for early warning, climate action and disaster risk assessment, the three subjects named in the conference title carried by both outlets.

Both reports were published on Saturday.