By Mobarik A. Virk
A mock exercise was staged jointly by the teams of Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) from Karachi and Islamabad at the National Disaster Management Academy of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) here on Monday.
The Swedish experts gave one-year training to the teams. Federal Minister for Information Qamar Zaman Kaira was the chief guest. Chairman National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Lieutenant General Farooq Ahmed, CDA Chairman Imtiaz Inayat Elahi and the representatives from the donor countries were also present on the occasion.
The USARs, established in the aftermath of the devastating October 8, 2005 earthquake, were first introduced in Karachi and the federal capital Islamabad. Both the teams have a strength of 88 members and in today’s mock exercise all the 176 members of the two USARs participated in the mock exercise. These teams declared fully trained to the satisfaction of their trainers are capable of dealing any kind of disastrous situation like earthquake, floods, fires, acts of terror and major accidents. CDA Chairman Imtiaz Inayat Elahi said that when the USARs were being formed back in 2007, it was a larger mandate being awarded to them and that was to respond to all types of disasters not only within Pakistan but outside the country too. “With very limited resources available, the close assistance, trainings and national-level exercises provided through the Swedish Contingencies Agencies (MSB) made it possible to achieve the set targets,” he added. He appreciated the cooperation extended by the UNDP, DFID and others for helping and providing expensive equipment and sophisticated devices for free to the CDA-USAR.
Federal Minister for Information Qamar Zaman Kaira appreciated the help and assistance provided by the Swiss, British and the Swedish agencies involved in raising these USARs. He also appreciated the role of major donors who provided funds and equipment to these teams. “I think the next step should be launch of efforts to raise a similar USAR team for the NWFP and keeping in view the situation of security and the incessant terror strikes this should be launched as early as possible,” he added. “Now they stand fully trained and meet the international standards that if there is an international crisis/tragedy like the one we saw after the December 26, 2004 Tsunami or the October 8, 2005 earthquake that hit vast parts of Azad Kashmir and NWFP and even the federal capital, these teams of our could be dispatched immediately to any part of the world if required,” CDA spokesman Syed Mustafain Kazmi told ‘The News’.
He said that the ‘Canine Center’, which is part of the NDMA, has 16 well-trained dogs with the ability to sniff hazardous material as well as locate the survivors trapped underneath collapsed buildings/structures. “Both of these USAR teams are fully equipped with scanners, sensors, cameras, and all the necessary equipment required to locate survivors in the rubbles and debris left behind by a disastrous situation. They are trained to work continuously, without a break with determination to help find, retrieve and provide relief to the victims/survivors in any unfortunate situation,” he added.