‘Governance Disaster in Pakistan’ launched

Islamabad
Ahmad Kamal, member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), has said that the whole weather system disturbed due to massive destruction and exploitation of natural resources by developed countries caused 650mm plus rainfall in the twin cities in 2001.
He was speaking at the launching of a study on ‘Governance Disaster in Pakistan 2005-2015’ organised by the Pattan Development Organisation in collaboration with the Asia Foundation on the 10th anniversary of 2005 earthquake in northern parts of Pakistan and 5th anniversary of floods in the country here on Wednesday.
Ahmad Kamal said that according to a World Bank report, major threats and hazards can visit us by 2035. He said that we are launching plans for most vulnerable areas at district level. He said that we will make projects at union council and village levels so that community may maintain the programme. It will follow mass level advocacy and awareness programme, he concluded.
Naseer Memon from Strengthening Participatory Organisation said that Karachi and Quetta are on fault lines. He said that towers being displayed in ad campaigns by developers are 'death towers' where building codes are not implemented. He lamented that big projects are initiated without Environment Impact Assessment.
Sarwar Bari, national coordinator of Pattan, said that the study will help in devising mechanisms to prevent these calamities or reduce their impact.
He said that in response to questionnaires, people said that calamities are natural but disasters are man-made, some resulting from our actions and others due to inaction. He said that poverty and helplessness are also closely related and media, NGOs, people and officials agree on this. He said that there are multitudes of laws which create problems and there was a need to have uniformity in rules and laws. He said that water-related calamities increased over years. He said that Supreme Court and Punjab government set up commissions. He said that the commissions reported serious managerial issues, corruption and lack of coordination between relevant bodies. Political interference also plays its role. He said that landlords encroached upon ‘katcha’ areas.
He said that according to the Federal Flood Commission data, losses increased 7 times from floods after 2010 despite huge investment in the area. He said sustainable development goals and poverty reduction should be linked with policies.