‘We are prepared to deal with any disaster’

CDA striving to modernise Emergency & Disaster Management Directorate to effectively deal with future emergencies.

ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) is striving to modernise its Emergency & Disaster Management Directorate (E&DM) to effectively deal with future emergencies, CDA Chairperson Imtiaz Inayat Elahi said on Friday.

He was addressing a three-day National Disaster Management Conference and Exhibition at the Convention Centre in Islamabad.

“The civic body is fully-equipped to respond to any emergency. We have acquired state-of-the-art equipment and are [further] upgrading our systems,” said Elahi.

He added that although many important buildings still lacked proper fire-fighting and other safety equipment, it was encouraging that different organisations had started to upgrade their equipment.

CDA has also started implementing the CDA Building Standards for Fire Prevention and Life Safety 2010 and the Islamabad Fire Prevention and Life Safety Regulation 2010. Elahi said: “We are carrying out risk assessments of all the public and private buildings to plan for viable emergency exits.”

Disaster management organisations like Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra) and Helping Hands have set up information and demonstration stalls at the exhibition.

Students of the Roots School System also set up a stall of their own.

“Being volunteers we can contribute a lot to minimize the miseries of the earthquake victims,” said Shaista Anwar, a student from Roots.

Later, workers of the disaster management directorate staged a flag march to show citizens that they were prepared to deal with any untoward situation. All branches of the E&DM took part in the march.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2010.