ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has been without a director general (DG) eversince the previous DG retired almost a month back.

Former PMD director general, Mahr Sahibzad Khan, retired by the end of March, and since then the government has not appointed a permanent DG nor has it given a look-after charge to any official in the department.

“The department’s performance has been suffering due to lack of any administrative work in the PMD under the current circumstances when rains are wreaking havoc not only in Pakistan but in other countries of the region,” a senior official of the department said.

Meanwhile, sources in the department said the delay in the appointment of the new DG had resulted in extensive lobbying in the aviation ministry - the line ministry of the Met office.

One such lobby is active in getting the former DG get extension after retirement, though these rumours were not being taken positively by other senior officers.

As a result, almost all the officials in the department were exercising restraints to inform the media about the weather patterns and report on these developments.

Meanwhile, the relevant officers of the aviation division did not respond to the queries about delay in the appointment of the Met DG.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024