An integrated disaster management plan




By Naeem Sadiq




IF Karachi were to be hit by an earthquake similar to the one experienced on October 8 in Kashmir and parts of the NWFP, it could result in the death of three to five million people and the city being pushed back on the time-line by some 100 odd years. However undesirable, this possibility cannot be ruled out.

We could, however, reduce the loss, damage and suffering by doing some pro-active planning, preparation and taking precautions. The October 8 earthquake extracted a heavy price for our negligence, ignorance and apathy. Are we going to be better equipped to cope with a future disaster? Can Pakistan create an effective disaster management system before we are caught unprepared yet another time? This article proposes a step-by-step approach to building a comprehensive disaster management system in Pakistan.

Such a system involves continuous and integrated multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary processes of planning and implementation of steps aimed at prevention, hazard assessment, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery in relation to natural and manmade disasters. It aims to protect public safety, promote disaster-resilient communities and create public confidence in the ability of the system to manage an emergency or a disaster. There are seven core elements that constitute a disaster management system — a caring state and civil society, a disaster management organization, hazard and vulnerability assessment, mitigation and prevention, planning and preparedness, response, rescue, relief and recovery, rehabilitation and restoration.

Disaster management is linked with how a state perceives its relations with its ordinary citizens. Does it care for them? Does it protect their life, liberty and property in normal times? Does it treat them equally and fairly? Does it work towards improving their quality of life?

A state that does not care for its ordinary citizens in normal times would not be expected to behave differently during crises. With half of the population completely illiterate, 40 per cent living below the poverty line and another 40 per cent not far above it, both state and civil society have very little to show in terms of their care or concern for the ordinary citizens. On the other hand, a very small minority of the rich and powerful, obsessed with its own well-being and ostentatious lifestyle draws all the attention and blessings of the state.

It is absolutely vital that the state should shift its focus from the much privileged and affluent minority to its large burgeoning have-nots. This is the foremost requirement for building a sincere and effective disaster management system in Pakistan.

Did anyone hear of any civilian disaster or relief management organization during or after the October 8 earthquake? Faced with the greatest natural catastrophe in the nation’s history, Pakistan’s disaster management organizations could collectively accomplish less than the two local high school kids who voluntarily directed traffic at a narrow road in Muzaffarabad. This is a sad reflection on the collective incompetence of our institutions. A military general appointed the relief commissioner on the third day after the quake had to struggle hard to discover that the only organization he could order around was the army. Clearly, the disaster management organizations only existed on paper.

The Federal Flood Commission (FFC), the Emergency Relief Cell (ERC), the Pakistan Meteorological Department and the Civil Defence which are the main agencies for disaster and relief management in Pakistan were nowhere to be seen. Modern day disaster management can simply not be accomplished with organizations that do not coordinate their activities and whose personnel are under-trained and poorly equipped. Knee-jerk, reactive responses like the appointment of an emergency relief commissioner and the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority should not be thought of as an alternative to a long-term permanent institutional arrangement.

What is urgently needed is a permanent national disaster management authority that could establish, implement, maintain and improve a disaster management system in Pakistan. This should essentially be a civilian institution, supported by similar organizations at the province, city, town and community levels. It should be headed by an administrator (preferably a civilian) of outstanding management skills. Pakistan would do itself a big favour, if it appoint its living saint, Maulana Abdul Sattar Edhi, to head such an organization.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) must be responsible for developing a national policy, plans, response systems and standards. It should work closely with provincial disaster management organizations and provide the necessary support, funds, tools and training. Additional resources should be provided if the handling of an emergency situation is beyond the capabilities of the provincial response. Full-time national and provincial disaster management operations centres need to be established, equipped with advanced communications for monitoring and coordinating the response to an emergency.

The NDMA should support provincial disaster management organizations, coordinate all resources and responses, and protect the safety of critical national infrastructure such as electrical, gas and oil installations, telecommunication systems, healthcare systems, food safety and stocks, water and transportation systems , dams, ports and airports.

Simultaneously we need to establish provincial, city, town and community disaster management organizations. Each level of organization must be required to plan for, and respond to, emergency situations within their jurisdictions and capabilities. Where required, their capabilities are augmented by the next higher level disaster management organization.

The community plays an important role in disaster management. It knows best about local conditions, people, geography and resources, and is also usually the first to know and the first to reach the place of disaster. Community emergency relief teams (CERT) must be organized at the level of mohalla, village or locality and a volunteer community warden scheme should be launched.

With some organization, training, recognition and compensation, they could play a very effective supporting role in times of disasters and emergencies. Each level of disaster management organizations ensures that it integrates all disaster management plans that fall in its jurisdiction.

The task of implementing a national disaster management programme cannot be undertaken by a few detached people pushing files in an Islamabad secretariat. The NDMA and its associated organizations would need to adopt a highly pragmatic and efficient (non-bureaucratic) management style to accomplish a task that literally needs to be evolved from scratch.

The trick lies in creating a small core group at each level (national, provincial, city and town) of highly-skilled, knowledge-based and well-trained professionals. This core group acts as a nucleus and in turn involves, engages and trains a large number of other organizations to create an integrated disaster management system. The quality and effectiveness of the core disaster management organizations lie in how well they have been able to blend other support components into a unified rapid response network.

Other organizations that are critical components of a disaster planning and response network include the fire, police, health, meteorological, agricultural, irrigation, forest, transport and food departments, ambulance services, telephone and utility companies, hospitals, the armed forces, the coast guards and Rangers, Suparco, the nuclear regulatory body, airport, railways, and seaport authorities, environmental, building control and water management authorities, besides municipal corporations, public and industry representatives, NGOs and volunteer organizations.

The current laws in Pakistan (the National Calamities Act 1958, Emergency Services Ordinance 2002 and Local Government Ordinance 2001) are inadequate and outdated and do not cover the scope of an integrated national disaster management system. They must, therefore, be replaced with a new parliamentary act, at the national and provincial levels, that provides for the establishment of a national disaster management authority, its affiliated provincial, city, town and community branches.

Every city, town and community, may have a different set of hazards depending upon location, population, buildings, topography, climate and a host of other factors. The first step for a hazard management organization is, therefore, to carry out a hazard identification and vulnerability assessment exercise, in order to determine the specific risks in each location.

The first stage in hazard analysis is to identify the types of hazards that may exist in the area under study. These could be events occurring suddenly or gradually, of an atmospheric, seismic, geological, volcanic, biological and hydrological nature. It is best to make a list of possible hazards specific to each town, city or community that may result in creating a disaster.

The next step in hazard analysis is to describe and assess the probability of occurrence of the potentially hazardous event at a specific place, at a specific time, and with a specific intensity and duration, for a vulnerable population and their vulnerable basis for life. It describes and evaluates the degree to which the population, animals, structures and goods would be at risk.

However, before such a detailed study is carried out, it is necessary to establish how far population groups and their bases for life are potentially affected by the event, i.e. how susceptible they are to the event and how vulnerable they are to its resultant hazards. The probability of occurrence of a hazard can be rated either on a numerical scale (say, one to 10) or on a more descriptive one, ranging from low to medium to high.