Natural disasters: Miseries of survivors showcased through short documentaries

Of eight entries, four won prizes.

ISLAMABAD:

Every year, natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, landslides and drought take the lives of thousands of people across the country. Though the pain and suffering of the survivors become news for a few weeks, they are soon forgotten. Most of the time they are left to put up with a life filled with dreadful images seared into their memories by these catastrophic events.

In a bid to highlight the agony and distress of such survivors, a documentary festival entitled “Rebranding Disaster Risk Management” was held on Thursday at a local hotel. The event was organised by the Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS) — an affiliate of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).

Around twenty young people from across the country showcased short documentaries reflecting miseries of survivors of such natural calamities and lacunas in disaster preparedness and response at the national level.

Of the twenty entries, eight had been shortlisted and best four won prizes. First prize went to Rizwan Hunzai, a National College of Arts graduate who had beautifully documented the miseries of a family that had lost all their property to the landslide which created Attabad Lake. He had also shot and documented the work of a humanitarian agency to rehabilitate the victims.

Raja Sadif Naeem, a student of Federal Urdu University, clinched second prize for his documentary on the Natural Disaster Management Authority, depicting its response to the earthquake that hit Balochistan on September 24 this year.

Saira Sarwar, a development professional, bagged third prize for her documentary “Me and My lost Paradise”, depicting the destruction caused by the landslide in Attabad.

Haris and Usman from NUST won fourth prize for their documentary focusing the preparedness and the damages caused by disasters.

Pakistan Metrological Department Chief Meteorologist Dr Ghulam Rasul told The Express Tribune that Pakistan will continue to witness more natural disasters in the future. “Climate change is the major cause behind these recurring disasters,” he said.

He said that over the last past few years it has been noticed that the areas which were not vulnerable to natural disasters have become prone to them.

With the example of the Thar Desert, he said that in 2011, the area received over 1,200 millimetre of rain in one month and saw severe floods, whereas the normal annual rainfall in the area is just 150 millimetres.

NDMA Chairman Major General Muhammad Saeed Aleem said that more needed to be invested in early warning systems and trickling it down to grass root level to effectively respond to such catastrophes.

He suggested that the Pakistan Metrological Department should be upgraded with new technology to make it more effective in issuing early warnings.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 27^th, 2013.