NDMA finalises contingency plan to meet any eventuality

The plan, designed to meet the worst-case scenario, will be made public within the next few days.

ISLAMABAD: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has finalised a National Contingency Plan to meet any eventuality during the upcoming monsoon season, Chairman NDMA Dr Zafar Iqbal Qadir said on Monday.     

Talking to APP, Qadir said that the plan would be made public within the next few days. The contingency plan has been designed to meet the worst-case scenario, he added.

The aim of the whole exercise was to prepare a “comprehensive, actionable and holistic” pre-monsoon preparedness and national contingency plan before the monsoon, he said, adding that a sum of Rs5 billion has already been approved by the finance ministry to meet any eventuality.

He further said that provinces have been asked to allocate between Rs3 and Rs5 billion each to immediately start relief activities in their respective areas without waiting on donors.

According to the meteorological department, 15% above normal rains are expected during the current monsoon season. A total of 29.2 million people may be affected in case of flash flooding including, 16.5 million from Sindh and 7.8 million in the Punjab.