Snow alert issued to districts

PDMA asks DCs to ensure staff, machinery availability

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) has once again directed deputy commissioners in all mountainous districts across the province to ensure staff availability in anticipation of continued snowfall and torrential rainfall until February 4.

They are instructed to keep tourists informed about weather forecasts so they can take necessary precautions. Previously, on January 26, PDMA had issued alerts for all districts due to heavy snow and rainfall forecasts.

Deputy commissioners are urged to take precautionary measures, ensure necessary equipment, and prepare for emergency situations. The rainfall is expected to clear urban centers of dense fog that has persisted for the past month.

In mountainous districts and hill stations, officials are tasked with informing locals and tourists about severe weather conditions that may lead to road closures. PDMA has mandated conveying information in regional languages and preparing alternative routes if highways are blocked.

The rain and snowfall are projected to continue until January 31, with intermittent breaks, prompting tourists to prepare accordingly.

PDMA, with guidance from the relief, rehabilitation, and settlement department, has developed the Winter Contingency Plan 2023-24 to address various natural hazards during the winter season. This plan includes strategies for managing extreme temperatures, fog, smog, snowfall, landslides, floods, and seismic activities.

Read Snow turns K-P into winter wonderland

PDMA Director General Muhammad Qaisar Khan highlighted the plan’s initiation in October 2023, involving key stakeholders such as the federal government, provincial departments, district administration, and development partners. Digital tools for data collection, district-specific hazard profiles, vulnerability assessments, coordination efforts, and contingency plans are integral to the plan.

The Winter Contingency Plan provides a comprehensive overview of hazard profiles, risk assessments, and vulnerable population estimates for each district. It guides districts in mapping vulnerable sites, developing contingency plans, and delineating roles and responsibilities to ensure a coordinated response.

The plan encompasses strategies to manage hazards such as extreme low temperatures, fog, smog, snowfall, rainfall, landslides, flash floods and seismic activities in the mountainous north and west.

In a press statement, PDMA Director General Muhammad Qaisar Khan stated that the Winter Contingency Plan 2023-24 had been initiated in October 2023 and involved key stakeholders such as the federal government, provincial line departments, the district administration, UNDP GLOF-II and other development partners.

The statement further said digital tools for data collection had been developed and shared, including information on district, sector-specific hazards, vulnerability profiles, hazard impacts, damages, compensation details, resource mapping, need assessment, and coordination efforts.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2024.