F.P Report
PESHAWAR: In order to enhance the capacity of district disaster management unit (DDMU) of Buner district, the provincial disaster management authority (PDMA) is committed to work for strengthening of DDMUs units at headquarter level to standardize their structures across the province.
In this regard, a ceremony was held at in connection with launch of project at deputy commissioner office in Buner. Director General PDMA Muhammad Khalid, Director Relief PDMA Abdul Basit, Deputy Commissioner Buner, Dr Azmat Wazir team leader for humanitarian interventions, Rudolph Von Planta and Head of Humanitarian Affairs at SDC Franziska Voegtli, District Nazim Buner and others were also in attendance.
Secretary Relief Rehabilitation & Settlement department Zahir Shah was the chief guest.
Director General PDMA Muhammad Khalid while addressing participants said the project will support PDMA in strengthening the capacity of its DRM Unit for piloting and demonstrating the DDMU in Buner district and contributing to improve DRM system to enhance the resilience of the communities in the province.
It will also said that support of district line departments for DRM mainstreaming in the district is must. For the enhanced capacity of DDMU in Buner and the unit will develop a number of strategic tools and plans to fulfill its mandate and to help improve DRM coordination. These will include Multi-Hazard Contingency Plans (MHCP), Multi-Hazard Vulnerability Risk Assessment (MHVRA) as per National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) tools and guidelines, Disaster Risk Management Plan (DRMP) among others, he added.
Secretary RR&S Zahir Shah said that keeping in view the diversity, magnitude and frequency of disasters and potential hazards, the Buner district is faced with, it becomes clear that any approach to bring in development to the district and its disaster mitigation and management capacity will be unsuccessful without a holistic approach to DRM.
The reason why the interventions focusing on district capacities will involve multi-level stakeholders and closely coordinate with the communities. Through strengthened DDMU unit setup and civic participation, district Buner will emerge as a pioneer in DRR measures for minimizing the impact of future emergencies and disaster response capacities. He also appreciated the support of Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation for supporting this project.
Though, there will be some work to develop an effective communication system between DDMU, PDMA, NDMA and Pakistan Metrological Department for clear and timely communication in pre-during-post emergency situations.
