LAHORE – Pakistan Furniture Council (PFC) Chief Executive Officer Mian Kashif Ashfaq has said that effective watershed management can play a pivotal role in regulating water flows, preventing erosion, enriching soils, and reducing flood risks. He emphasized the need for planting indigenous species and bamboo along rivers and tributaries to withstand flood pressure and restore ecological balance. Speaking at a seminar on “Flood Management” here on Sunday, he said the Indus basin, Pakistan’s largest watershed system, originates in the Himalayas and stretches over 1,700 kilometres through Punjab and Sindh before draining into the Arabian Sea. With an annual runoff of 154 million acre-feet, the Indus system is not only the backbone of Pakistan’s biodiversity and agriculture but also a vital energy source for the country. Mian Kashif Ashfaq pointed out that kacha lands, officially designated as high flood-prone areas, are often misused for farming or occupied by homeless groups and outlaws. He added that illegal construction of housing colonies inside riverbeds, including along the Ravi, has further aggravated flood risks. “Whosoever violates the law of the land must be held accountable to prevent colossal future losses,” he stressed. Highlighting Pakistan’s reliance on agriculture, which supports nearly 70 percent of its population, he said water storage and flood protection must be built on long-term strategies. These include relocating populations from permanently flood-prone zones to safer areas, installing nets in cloudburst-prone mountain districts to reduce debris flows, constructing small and check dams at feasible sites, clearing waterways of flood debris and sand deposits. He lamented that despite decades of recurring floods, watershed management has remained a neglected area of investment. “Now is the time to integrate watershed planning into national priorities, and international climate financing can support these vital efforts,” he concluded.
