Dedicated force to respond to disasters

Islamabad: The National Disaster Management Authority has planned the raising of a dedicated force to effectively respond to disasters across the country.

NDMA Chairman Lieutenant General Omar Mahmood Hayat told a workshop on the role of media in preparedness for disaster management here that the proposed National Disaster Response Force would help handle the catastrophic situations across the country along with other relevant authorities. "This exclusive force to be developed along the lines of Rescue 1122 will comprise around 200 highly-trained personnel to reduce disaster risks and ensure swift reaction to the emergencies across the country," he said, adding that disaster response teams would be raised in provinces afterwards. The NDMA chairman regretted that currently, there was no dedicated force for rescue operations during catastrophes and therefore, the armed forces were called for the purpose and thus, overburdening their resources. He said India had 12 battalions serving as the NDRF, which aptly responded to disasters.

"The proposed NRDF will be provided with the state-of-the-art disaster dealing equipment and paraphernalia to engage in any emergent situation in the disaster prone country," he said. The NDMA chief said currently, Pakistan had reached the point where it had developed vast knowledge of disaster management either natural or man-made disaster it had always employed all possible means and resources to amicably deal with the situation.