K-P launches monsoon contingency plan
A man rides on donkey cart through rain waters, following rains and floods during the monsoon season in Jacobabad, Pakistan August 30, 2022. REUTERS
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), under the guidance of relief, rehabilitation and settlement department, is working on monsoon contingency plan 2023 in consultation with all the stakeholders in order to identify monsoon hazards, vulnerabilities, risks and resource mapping for minimizing disaster risks and timely coordinated response.
Contingency plan results in reinforcing prevention, mitigation and response to monsoon related disasters.
In this connection a pre-planning/orientation meeting was held with representatives of provincial line departments under the chairmanship of Director Disaster Risk Management, PDMA, Muhammad Amin.
On this occasion Muhammad Amin said “We started the process of contingency planning by involving all stakeholders and these series of meetings will continue in the month of April and hopefully contingency plan will be developed by the end of May 2023. PDMA determined roles and responsibilities in monsoon plan for each department. Tools for data collection are developed and shared with all stakeholders including information regarding district, sector specific hazards and vulnerability profile, hazard impact, damages, compensation paid, resource mapping, need assessment and coordination”.
He added that natural hazards and subsequent disasters caused massive losses to life and property and planning must be done to reduce it to a minimum level.
He maintained that K-P had faced a lot of financial and human losses due to floods in 2022.
Due to the better strategy and presence of the system (Disaster Risk Management) in the provinces more than 400,000 people were shifted to safe places, he claimed.
The climate change has increased the vulnerability, as weather patterns are shifting.
The Monsoon Contingency Plan will categoize the districts vulnerability and risk assessment into very high, high, medium and low categories.
The peculiar geography, terrain and natural resources make the K-P vulnerable to a number of climate contingencies during both summers and winters.
Talking to journalists after the meeting, spokesperson PDMA, Taimur Ali said that PDMA has initiated the process of introducing proactive preparedness regime under guidelines established by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) for streamlining response at provincial and district levels in coordination with all stakeholders.
Taimur Ali further said the process of contingency planning for major hazards shall enable initiation of requisite mitigation measures and to undertake a coordinated response to minimize the loss of life and property in the events of disasters.
It is stakeholders’ inclusive exercise that takes stock of what exists in terms of resources, hazards analysis to determine the likely relief caseloads as a planning assumption.
He observed that Pakistan in general and K-P in particular is vulnerable to various hazards due to adverse effects of climate change.
PDMA is an active disaster management organization at the provincial level that deals with disaster management, disaster risk reduction, preparedness and planning. PDMA has also installed flood early warning system (EWS) in the upper catchment areas of the province. This system has been installed on seven main rivers of the province to monitor the water level.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 29th, 2023.