PDMA working on monsoon contingency plan

PESHAWAR: The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is working on monsoon contingency plan 2023 with stakeholders to identify hazards, vulnerabilities, risks and resource mapping for minimizing disaster risks and ensuring a timely coordinated response.

A press release said a pre-planning meeting was held with representatives of KP line departments under the chairmanship of PDMA Director for Disaster Risk Management Muhammad Amin.

Speaking at the meeting, Muhammad Amin said: “We started the process of monsoon contingency planning 2023 by involving all stakeholders. These series of meetings will continue in April and hopefully a contingency plan will be developed by the end of May 2023”.

He said: “The PDMA has determined roles and responsibilities in monsoon plan for each department. Tools for data collection have been developed and shared with stakeholders. The data includes information regarding district/sector specific hazards and vulnerability profile, hazard impact, damages, compensation paid, resource mapping, need assessment and coordination”.

The official added that natural hazards and subsequent disasters caused massive losses to people’s life and livelihoods. He recalled that KP had faced a lot of financial and human losses due to floods last year. But over 400,000 people were shifted to safer places. It was added that climate change has increased the vulnerability, as weather patterns are shifting. The monsoon contingency plan will categorize the districts vulnerability and risk assessment into very high, high, medium and low categories.

The peculiar geography, terrain and natural resources make KP venerable to a number of climate contingencies during both summers and winters.PDMA Spokesperson Taimur Ali said PDMA has initiated the process of introducing a proactive preparedness regime under guidelines established by National Disaster Management Authority for streamlining response at the provincial and district levels in coordination with all stakeholders.