Disaster management: ‘State-of-the-art’ facility set up in Lahore

LAHORE:

Punjab Disaster Management Authority Director General Jawed Akram said on Sunday that the PDMA had established a state-of-the-art humanitarian resource facility capable of assisting over 100,000 people in case of any natural catastrophe in the provincial capital.

He said the project had been completed with the assistance of the World Food Programme.

The director general  said that the project had been executed with the cooperation of seven countries, including Australia, Holland, Denmark, Japan, Canada and the United States of America.

He said four stores had been constructed over 8.55 acres in 12 months under the Rs300 million-project in the province. Akram said the initiative had been taken to prepare for any untoward situation that could arise in the monsoon season.

He said scores of relief items such as rice bags, plastic floor mats, patient beds, mattresses, side-tables, drip stands, stoves, lanterns, water bottles, quilts, fans, water pumps, life jackets, floats, a motorised boat, mosquito nets, tents, water filtration systems, bamboo sticks, fire extinguishers, toilets, basins, wheelchairs, carpets had been stored across the stores.

He said similar facilities had been set up in Quetta, Hyderabad and Muzaffargarh.  He said another facility was being constructed in Peshawar.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 1^st, 2015.