Disaster-management: Experts for research in geosciences to minimise risks

More support from govt and donors for all hazard-prone areas stressed.


Our Correspondent April 03, 2014
People walk through huge debris formed by a landslide. PHOTO: EXPRESS

ISLAMABAD:


Disaster risk reduction should be incorporated in planning processes at every administrative tier.


But in order to achieve this objective, the country has to first compile disaster vulnerability assessments, coordinate its scientific research efforts and create a general awareness among administrators to think ahead in terms of natural disaster preparedness.

Speakers echoed these thoughts at a national forum on geosciences and disaster risk reduction here on Wednesday, organised by the Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) in collaboration with Germany’s Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR).

The forum was attended by representatives of GSP, BGR, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) and UN agencies as well as national and provincial disaster management officials.



The forum aims at bringing different research organisations together to discuss disaster prediction and mitigation measures, GSP Director-General Dr Imran Khan said.

Natural disasters cause loss of lives and infrastructure every year. Pakistani research organisations can, however, lobby decision makers to implement policies to ultimately save lives and avoid financial losses, he suggested.

But first, these organisations have to join hands and work together across disciplines.

“We are promoting here a common platform from where we can suggest a strategy for disaster risk reduction,” Khan said. “The concept is to save Pakistan, because if there is no Pakistan, there are no us.”

Representatives of different organisations through presentations shared their respective work on disaster risk reduction.

Dr Adnan Alam Awan, who is the GSP project manager for the Pak-German technical collaboration, said Pak-German cooperation has led to the development of a national landslide inventory database. Awan said more support from the government and international agencies is required for completing research on all hazard prone areas of the country.



Iftikhar Bhatti, General Manager, SUPARCO, said satellite imagery is being used in Pakistan for post-disaster damage assessment and crop estimation among other similar analyses.

Another initiative highlighted during the presentations was the landslide susceptibility map for Mansehra district prepared under the Geohazard Assessment Project for Northern Pakistan, a joint initiative of GSP and BGR.

The pilot project, being carried out in Mansehra since 2009, is currently in its second implementation phase and will end this year.

“The aim of the project is to use the technical information from GSP, especially concerning landslides, for mitigation purposes,” said Dr Arne Hoffman-Rothe, the Head of Unit Asia and Oceania at BGR.

Rothe, himself a geologist, said the project is also looking at the way information on disaster risks is interpreted by community and local administrators and the way it can be used in spatial planning to minimize damages from landslides.

He said he hopes the pilot project will lead to a broader view within Pakistan where the role of the provincial disaster management authorities is strengthened and implementation mechanisms are made effective.

Annette Lisy, BGR’s project manager for the geohazard project, said the destruction of infrastructure in natural disasters means money that could be spent on improving service delivery gets spent on rebuilding.

Lisy said it is important that the planning processes in Pakistan be equipped to provide focused interventions in disaster-prone areas.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) also wants to mainstream disaster risk reduction in planning processes, said Idrees Mahsud, the NDMA’s director for disaster risk reduction. With around $16 billion of losses caused by natural disasters in Pakistan during the past few years, Mahsud said the NDMA has “shifted from a response-centric approach to a proactive approach” towards natural disasters.

But Pakistan needs to climb through preliminary rungs of the ladder before introducing mitigation schemes in planning.

Mahsud said the progression starts from conducting risk assessment, on which a national working group is currently working and which the NDMA also counts on among 10 priority areas for its 10-year, $1.04 billion national disaster risk reduction master plan.

Once the risk assessment is complete, its findings will inform areas such as land use planning and building codes and lead to strategic planning that incorporates disaster risk reduction, Mahsud said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3rd, 2014.

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