Tackling disasters: NADRA sets up cell for effective coordination

Officials say authority ‘fully prepared’ to tackle unwarranted emergency situation.

ISLAMABAD:

A special cell was established in the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) on Friday. The cell will effectively coordinate with all provincial disaster management authorities and the cabinet division to provide immediate response to emergency situations.

“The authority has continuously been supporting the government in conducting relief and rehabilitation activities in natural/man-made disaster struck areas of the country for the past 7 years,” said NADRA Chairman Tariq Malik.

He added that now, with the support of 534 registration centres, 236 mobile registration vehicles, 74 semi-mobile registration units, and over 200 special centres manned by trained staff, NADRA is fully prepared to heed the call of people in hour of need.

According to NADRA officials, the cell, made operational on Malik’s orders, will ideally be able to respond to unwarranted disasters in the shortest time possible.



NDMA and World Bank

Other efforts to prepare for impending floods and related crises are also under way.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), in collaboration with the World Bank, organised a series of trainings, from July 1 to July 12, for members of the National Working Group (NWG) on ‘vulnerability and risk assessments’.

The trainings, focused on impending flood and seismic hazards and exposure modeling, were a part of the World Bank’s technical assistance to the NDMA and NWG. Through this initiative, various technical agencies were brought together onto a national platform to assess risk management.

According to NDMA Chairman Maj-Gen Muhammad Saeed Aleem, ‘capacity building’ activities such as these not only foster a healthy exchange of knowledge between international and Pakistani experts, but also help to mainstream disaster risk reduction through informed decision-making. These trainings, he added, also create a culture of resilience.

In the same vein, World Bank’s Country Coordinator on Disaster Risk Management Haris Khan said the bank is supporting Pakistan’s aims in the disaster risk management sector, particularly in moving from a response-based system to a more proactive approach.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2013.