F.P. Report
PESHAWAR: The Provincial Disaster Management Authority, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (PDMA KP) in consultation with all stakeholders including District Administration, Provincial & Federal line departments and development partners has developed Monsoon Contingency Plan 2021 which contains but not limited to hazards, vulnerabilities, risks and resource mapping for minimizing disaster risks and timely coordinated response. Contingency Plan outcomes reinforce prevention, mitigation and response to monsoon related disasters.
According to Director General PDMA Mr. Sharif Hussain, natural disasters caused massive losses to people’s lives, livelihoods and properties, which retarded economic growth. “Under this contingency plan, the Authority make efforts to minimize the losses likely to be caused by the natural disasters,” he said.
The DG said that PDMA being cognizant of the importance of monsoon preparedness and contingency planning has worked out contingency plan 2021 to minimize the impending disaster risk within the province through formulation of a comprehensive plan and its effective and efficient implementation.
The process of Monsoon Contingency Planning was started from the first week of March 2021 by involving all stakeholders. Tools for data collection were 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.
The province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has faced various natural calamities in the past decades including earthquakes, floods, locust attack and the ensuing pandemic of COVID-19-which has strained the thin resources and had put enormous pressure on the economy as well as lives and livelihood of the people of this province.
Apart from above, the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to the impacts of climate Change patterns and Global warming has witnessed a number of other events Like the recurrence of recent years ‘Glacial Lake Outbursts floods in the Northern regions, especially in Chitral which wreaked havoc to the built system of that areas. Similarly, the thunderstorms and heavy rain- fall in Malakand and Hazara regions resulted in widespread damages and flooding downstream. Due to the changing weather patterns such types of events will increase in frequency in the future ahead-which warrant mitigative measures, preparedness and planning ahead of time and multi-pronged approach and implementation of Disaster Risk Reduction strategies.
Monsoon Contingency Plan 2021 gives a detailed view of hazards profile of all the districts vulnerabilities and risks and its index, available and deployed resources, mapping of public and private sector machinery, mechanism of coordination at district, provincial and national level, the type of strategy to be adopted and the formation of control room in case of any emergency situation. The plan chalks out the preparedness level of all stakeholders and will serve as a guiding tool for all the stakeholders.
Keeping in view the current climate change patterns, including overall global warming, rising temperatures, severe weather events, Glacial Lakes Outburst Flooding (GLOFs) and incidents of last monsoon which has resulted into loss of precious lives and considerable damages to both public and private infrastructure, this current MCP 2021 outlines different scenarios of emergency situations ranging from small scale events to large scale devastation and accordingly offers a clear picture of caseload, resources and relief to be provided for offsetting the impact of these event, PDMA has already dispatched sufficient quantity of relief items to all the districts of KP and has provided funds to be used for coping any emergency situation.
According to the plan, 09 districts of the province are consider as high risk districts during coming monsoon the districts are Charrsada, DI Khan, Shangla, Dir Upper, Nowshera, Swat, Chitral upper and Chitral Lower.
Pakistan Met Department, prediction for the current season is normal Based on this prediction, low case scenario has been considered a base and all the statistics have been calculated on low impact case load.
Director (Disaster Risk Management) PDMA, Miss. Zuhra Nigar said, PDMA has installed flood Early Warning System (EWS) in the upper catchment areas on Seven (07) telemetry station established at Swat River at Khawaza Khela, River Swat on Chakdara Bridge, at Panjkora River at Jabalot Bridge Unkor UC Bibyawar, Upper Dir, Munda Head Works, Abazai, Kalpani River, Mardan Ring Road Bridge, rivers/Nallahs to monitor the water level and generate early warning intimation in order to protect the human lives. The prime intent is to establish streams and rain gauges network in the hilly areas linked with computer-based model. Early Warning System analyzes existing data with previous flash flood historical data and upon reaching a dangerous level the system generates alert signals which will ultimately activate Provincial
Emergency Operations Center PDMA-PEOC remains active round the clock (24/7) and fully functional with free of cost Emergency Helpline 1700. This emergency helpline has been linked up with all Line Departments and Districts Administrations for quick response during any emergency situation and having easy access for the general public to guide and alert in real time prior to any emergency.
