PESHAWAR: The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the guidance of the Relief, Rehabilitation, and Settlement Department is finalizing the ‘Monsoon Contingency Plan 2023’ in consultation with all stakeholders to identify potential monsoon hazards, vulnerabilities, risks, and resource mapping to minimize disaster risks.
The stakeholders include the district administration, provincial and federal line departments, and humanitarian partners, said the spokesman on Monday.
The plan takes into account lessons learned from previous incidents and aims to reduce the impact of disasters, protecting the lives and livelihoods of the people in the province.
The contingency plan for the year 2023 aims to mitigate the potential impact of floods by incorporating lessons learned from the 2022 floods. It includes improved early warning systems, streamlined evacuation procedures, and better communication channels. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of community engagement.
A final pre-planning orientation meeting was held under the chairmanship of the Secretary of Relief, Rehabilitation and Settlement Department, Abdul Basit. Representatives from district administration, provincial and Federal line departments, and humanitarian partners participated in this meeting and provided feedback to make a comprehensive plan.
On this occasion, Secretary Relief Abdul Basit said, “The Relief Department is responsible for formulating policies, strategies, and guidelines for Relief, Rehabilitation, and Emergency activities in the province. PDMA, Rescue 1122, and Civil Defense are the attached formations of the RR&S Department to implement the mandate of Disaster Risk Management activities in the province.”
“The department will ensure the strengthening of the ADC Relief position. Rescue teams will have pre-visits to the vulnerable areas for community awareness, early warning systems and to identify the vulnerable areas prior to the disaster.”
The Director-General (DG) of PDMA Janat Gul Afridi said, “PDMA has assigned roles and responsibilities for each department in the monsoon plan and developed tools for data collection that have been shared with all stakeholders.”
“The process of Monsoon Contingency Planning started in mid-March 2023 and the contingency plan is expected to be developed by the end of May.”
“Tools for data collection are being developed and shared with all stakeholders, including information regarding district/sector-specific hazards and vulnerability profiles, hazard impact, damages, compensation paid, resource mapping, need assessment, and coordination.”
Director DRM Muhammad Admin stated that natural hazards and subsequent disasters cause significant losses to people’s lives and livelihoods. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) faced substantial financial and human losses due to floods in the year 2022 which were caused by abnormal monsoon conditions.
The Monsoon in 2022 began with an above-normal forecast, and the situation became similar to that of the 2010 floods. Subsequently, 17 districts were declared calamity-hit due to Floods 2022, resulting in significant loss of life and property. Due to the better strategy and presence of the Disaster Risk Management system in the province, more than 400,000 people were evacuated to safe places.
He added, “The Monsoon Contingency Plan will categorize the districts’ vulnerability and risk assessment into very high, high, medium, and low categories.”
PDMA spokesperson Taimur Ali said, “The Authority has installed a flood Early Warning System (EWS) in the upper catchment areas, which has been set up on seven locations on main five rivers and two Nullahs of the province to alert people of any impending danger.”
He further said, “KP is vulnerable to various hazards due to the adverse effects of climate change.”