PDMA sets up damage control system

Training programme initiated for district administration

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) has developed Disaster Management Information System (DMIS) with the cooperation of International Rescue Committee (IRC). It was jointly activated under the Revamping of Provincial Emergency Operation Centre project by Director General PDMA and Country Director IRC on Thursday.

The DMIS will enable reporting the damages caused by natural calamities in a timely manner and ensure the immediate provision of aid to the victims. In this regard, a two-day training workshop was organised for the concerned district administration staff from across the province in Peshawar.

PDMA Director General Sharif Hussain, Director Relief Muhammad Rehman, Project Director PEOC, Hajra Sami, IRC Country Director Shabnam Baloch and senior management, staff of divisional control rooms established by PDMA at the district level and district officials of all districts participated in the training. The objective of the workshop was to train the staff of the district administration and divisional control rooms on the use of the system and effectively respond to the victims in times of crisis and natural disasters.

This will enable the victims to access all the information related to the provision of relief from the initial report. Addressing the participants of the workshop, PDMA director general said that effective measures and better strategies are indispensable to reduce the losses caused by natural disasters.

He further said that the DIMS will not only facilitate communication with the relevant institutions, but will also help the activity in redressing the losses in a timely manner. At the end of the workshop, certificates were distributed among the participants by DG PDMA. It may be recalled that PDMA has already released Rs1,752 million to the districts administration since July 2022 to deal with the emergency situation caused by floods across the province.

As per policy, the fund could be utilised for compensation of the victims and relief activities. The DG said that helping and rehabilitating the flood victims was the first duty and top priority. All the concerned district organisations and line departments were working day and night to help the victims, he said. On January 13, Sharif Hussain chaired the fourth core coordination committee meeting. All UN agencies and partners representatives participated in the session.

The purpose of the meeting was to strengthen coordination, financial resource mapping and assessment of public-private partnership and community owned projects. DG PDMA stressed the need for better and early reconstruction and rehabilitation in the 17 flood affected districts of K-P.