PDMA asked to prepare contingency plan

All available resources to be utilized

PESHAWAR:

Commissioner Hazara division Syed Zahirul Islam Wednesday asked the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to chalk out a comprehensive plan well before time to cope with emergencies due to floods and glacier outburst in extreme summer heat.

Presiding over a meeting on Wednesday to review the preparedness of PDMA for summer, he said that all available resources would be utilized to protect lives and properties of public, adding that timely planning could avert losses during disasters.

He directed the PDMA, district administrations and other line departments to play their imperative role in chalking out a comprehensive plan. The Commissioner said that climate change had emerged as a global phenomenon and Pakistan was also facing issues due to it, adding that timely prediction and measures could be helpful in keeping the losses due to natural disaster minimum.

He emphasized on data management of environmental changes and disasters and appreciated the timely prediction of snowfall and measures by the district administrations during winter this year.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th, 2022.