Unnatural causes of disaster

Source: The News

Date: 19-09-2010

Lurking catastrophes of the future demand serious investment into disaster prevention and response systems
By Naseer Memon

There is a need to comprehend the role of institutions that exacerbated the impact of recent floods. Many still see recent floods as a prelude to the worst. Without indulging in speculations one can safely say we ought to be equipped to respond to the vagaries of nature.

In August, Pakistan received more than half of its monsoon downpour during one week, which would normally have taken three months. This year flood sustained for abnormally long durations.

In Sindh, three barrages had to brace furious flow of over 1.1 million cusecs for almost eleven days. This lunacy of flood is a clarion call from the nature that we seriously need to realign our response mechanism to commensurate with such somersaults of climate.

The recent experience of disaster response mocks at our administrative adequacy. The institutional tentacles of our disaster response system were practically paralysed by the enormity of flood. National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and its provincial and district extensions were sent into a tailspin by the disaster. PDMAs and DDMAs were found ineffective.

In disaster response, the lowest tier i.e. DDMA is of paramount importance by virtue of being the first and the last line of defense for communities. The DDMAs, under Section 21 of the National Disaster Management Ordinance are charged to devise disaster management plans for their districts but there was hardly any in place. Certain international donor organizations provided technical and logistical support for capacity-building of selected DDMAs in the country but provincial governments seldom considered institutionalization of PDMAs and DDMAs as serious business.

Though DDMAs are under administrative control of provincial government yet there were instances when they were reprimanded by NDMA if they approached any donors for any support. PDMA in Sindh is manned by less than a dozen staff at Karachi without any outreach stations in the rest of Sindh.

Punjab till recent days did not have any PDMA at all and those established in the remaining provinces lacked agility due to dearth of human, technical and financial wherewithal. Our shoddy disaster management machinery was soon on its knees as the disaster unraveled the patchwork of dykes.

For details: http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/sep2010-weekly/nos-19-09-2010/pol1.htm#4