International Day for Disaster Reduction observed

PESHAWAR: The International Day for Disaster Reduction  and National Disaster Awareness Day was observed at the University of Peshawar (UoP) on Monday.

A function was jointly organised by the Centre for Disaster Preparedness and Management (CDPM), UoP and Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Fata Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) and some non-governmental organisations to mark the day.

UoP Vice-chancellor Dr Mohammad Asif Khan was the chief guest on the occasion. The vice chancellor, in his speech, highlighted the role of the university faculty in managing response to various disasters including earthquake 2005. He said the university lost renowned geologist Dr Hamidullah during post-earthquake emergency response to 2005 earthquake. The vice chancellor offered support to all government departments, United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations for networking and conducting research studies on scientific and social aspect of disaster and its management.

PDMA Director Relief Abdul Basit stressed the need for implementation and enforcement of building codes policy, conducting geological surveys to identify vulnerable locations and multi-hazard vulnerability assessment across the province. He added PDMA was trying to achieve the goal of resilience in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.