China, Pakistan to enhance disaster preparedness in mountain regions

Islamabad:In a latest move to bolster disaster resilience in Pakistan’s northern mountainous areas, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the National Disaster Management Authority of Pakistan (NDMA) signed a cooperation agreement here at the NDMA headquarters.

The agreement, formalised between the China-Pakistan Joint Research Centre for Earth Sciences (CPJRC) and National Disaster Management Institute (NDMI) at a ceremony.This aims to improve disaster management, especially in Pakistan’s northern mountain regions that are prone to earthquakes and landslides.

CPJRC, established by CAS and Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission under a mutual agreement, focuses on scientific research and education in earth sciences. It is based at Quaid-i-Azam University and hosted by the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, CAS.As per the agreement, both sides will work to promote the implementation of mountain disaster risk simulation and early warning forecast systems at NDMA, and to deploy advanced disaster risk simulation and early warning forecasting systems in the mountain areas, Gwadar Pro reported on Thursday. It is expected to set up new monitoring stations that will enhance risk assessment and data collection, crucial for timely and effective disaster response.