Disaster risks: PDMA to prepare plan for winter

PESHAWAR: The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, is working on the winter contingency plan 2022-23 in consultation with all the stakeholders, including the district administration, the provincial and federal departments and humanitarian partners, to minimize disaster risks and identify hazards.

A pre-winter planning meeting was held with PDMA Director General Sharif Hussain in the chair on Monday. Additional deputy commissioners (Relief) and officials from district administrations, line departments, representatives of the UNDP GLOF-II Project and others attended the meeting.

Sharif Hussain said the province suffered from heavy floods and torrential rains during the monsoon season. Due to early warning PDMA, district administration and other relevant departments evacuated 406,568 people to safe places before the floods while 69,775 people were rescued through rescue operations in different districts.

Shairf Hussain said the PDMA developed the Monsoon Contingency Plan 2022 with the consultation of district administrations, he added. “Our collaborated response is appreciated at all national and international levels. The same spirit and coordination are expected from all the departments and partners for Winter Contingency Plan 2022-23,” he said.

The official said: “We started the process of winter contingency planning by involving all stakeholders. The contingency plan will be developed by mid-November. Tools for data collection have been developed and shared with all stakeholders including information about district/sector specific hazards and vulnerability profile, hazard impact, damages, compensation paid, resource mapping, need assessment and coordination”.

He added, “Under the coming contingency plan, the authority would make efforts to minimize the losses likely to be caused by the disasters.” The natural hazards include winter hazards of extremely low temperature, fog/smog, snowfall, rainfall, landslides flashfloods, and seismic activity along the mountainous north and west.

The winter contingency plan will categorise the districts’ vulnerability and risk assessment into very high, high, medium and low categories. Each weather pattern comes with its own sets of contingencies. The peculiar geography, terrain and natural resources make the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa victim to a number of climate contingencies during both summers and winters.

Some regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa such as Malakand and Hazara divisions, by virtue of their high altitudes, are exposed to weather extremes in winter spreading around 4 months from December to March. The low temperature, fog/smog, snowfall, rainfall, landslides, avalanches and the consequent blockade of roads and pathways resulting in inaccessibility of the areas are some of the common features.

PDMA Disaster Risk Management Director Muhammad Amin said the authority had initiated the process of introducing a proactive preparedness regime under guidelines established by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) for streamlining response at provincial and district levels in coordination with all stakeholders.

The process of contingency planning for major hazards shall enable the initiation of required mitigation measures and undertake a coordinated response to minimize the loss of life and property in the events of disasters. It is stakeholders’ inclusive exercise that takes stock of what exists in terms of resources, and hazards analysis to determine the likely relief caseloads as a planning assumption.

PDMA Khyber Pakhtun- khwa is an active Disaster Management Organization at the provincial level that deals with Disaster Management, Disaster Risk Reduction, Preparedness and Planning.