China and Pakistan have joined forces to monitor natural disasters. They are making a specialized center dedicated to natural disaster observation and research, situated in the Karakoram Mountains.
This collaborative effort is spearheaded by the China-Pakistan Joint Research Centre on Earth Sciences (CPJRC) and the Karakoram International University. During a meeting with China-SCO Geosciences Cooperation Research Centre and the All-Pakistan Chinese Enterprises Association, Hong Tianhua, the Executive Director of the CPJRC, unveiled this development.
Slated to be finished within three years in Passu, Gilgit Baltistan (GB), the station will monitor glacial lake outbursts, glacier debris flow, and landslides. The station will analyze data on glaciers, snow cover, meteorology, hydrology, and soil.
CPJRC is a collaboration between the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan to promote cooperation in various domains, including natural disasters, ecological environment, resource development, and sustainable development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Building upon the groundwork laid by the CPEC multi-factor database and data management and information service system during the previous year’s floods, Hong Tianhua highlighted CPJRC’s intention to launch a digital CPEC platform. This platform will enable the acquisition, preservation, sharing, and utilization of data pertaining to the ecological environment and disaster prevention within the CPEC framework.
Through the natural disaster observation and research center, along with the digital CPEC platform, China and Pakistan are taking momentous strides toward enhancing their collaboration in monitoring natural disasters and fostering sustainable development within the CPEC.
