Topic: Disaster Management in Pakistan
Outlines:
1. Introduction
2. Disaster and its types
3. Disaster management
4. Phases of disaster management
i) Mitigation
ii) Preparedness
iii) Response
iv) Recovery
5. History of disasters in Pakistan
6. Disaster in the wake of recent floods
7. Structure of disaster management in Pakistan
8. Role of National Disaster Management Authority
9. Abysmal state of disaster management in Pakistan
10. Impacts of weak disaster management
i) Food crisis
ii) Health hazards
iii) Ravaged infrastructure
iv) Economic loss
v) Taliban recruitment
vi) Political upset
11. An organised disaster management is the need of the hour
12. Measures to improve disaster management in Pakistan
13. Conclusion
Essay:
Pakistan is one of the most disaster prone countries in the
world. These disasters cause a heavy toll in terms of men and material.
Generally divided into natural and man-made, all disasters are managed by a
systematic process of disaster management that aims at restoration of people
to normal state. Pakistan is well acquainted with disasters. However, recent
floods surpassed all the previous records of calamities. Though concerned
agencies tried their bit, overall state of disaster management largely
remained unsatisfactory which added more to the plights of people.
therefore, it is in the best interest of Pakistan to formulate an organised
disaster management programme to cope with disasters that may break out in
future.
Disaster is defined as "a sudden calamitous event that brings
about great damage, destruction and devastation to life and property." the
damage caused by disasters varies depending upon geographical location,
climate, severity and above all, the types of disasters. generally,
disasters have been classified into two categories-- natural disasters and
man-made disasters. while floods, cyclones, droughts and earthquakes are a
few examples of natural disasters, man-made disasters include arson,
terrorist activities, wars and accidents. If not managed properly, these
disasters are potent enough to cause great damage.
Disaster man agent is the process of co-coordinating available
resources to deal emergencies effectively, thereby saving lives, avoiding
injuries and minimizing economic losses. Thus, it is an interdisciplinary
process that deals with strategic and organisational management processes
used to protect critical assets from hazard risks that may disasters or
catastrophic events. Furthermore it ensures continuance of these processes
within their planned lifetime.
As mentioned earlier, disaster management is a systematic
process. It is divided into four main phase: mitigation, preparedness,
response and recovery. Mitigation and preparedness are pre-disaster
management phases, while response and recovery are post disaster phases. All
these phases are crucially important in managing disasters.
Mitigation is the very first phase of disaster management. It is
a sustained action that reduces or eliminates long-term risks to people and
property from the hazards and their effects. Mitigation, therefore, is an
ongoing effort to lessen the impact that disasters may cast on people and
property. It involves such activities as avoiding construction of high risk
areas, scientific hazard analysis, vulnerability analysis, risk assessment,
launching awareness campaign, training and capacity building etc.
Preparedness, the second phase of disaster management, is
defined by Global Development Research Center as "a set of steps that
enhance the ability of communities and government to respond to a disaster."
The steps included in this phase are the maintenance of resource inventory,
stockpiling, logistic planning, evacuation planning, communication planning,
and needs assessment. The key to effective disaster management is readiness
to provide a rapid emergency response. It entails everyone to be prepared to
respond to extreme situations.
The next phase of disaster management is response. It includes
the action of responding to an emergency. It aims to provide emergency
support to a community to maintain health, safety and morale until a
permanent solution can be put in place. The steps involved in response phase
are situation analysis, crisis maps, information communication, evacuation
and shelters, dispatching of resources and early damage assessment. Besides,
trai9ned and equipped personnel are required to deal with an emerging
crisis.
Finally, recovery is the process of returning to normal.
Recovery phase may be short-term as well as long-term, and it begins after
the disaster commences. Recovery phase is overlapped by reconstruction,
rehabilitation; spatial planning, infrastructure, housing, livelihood,
social security, transport, clean drinking water, communication and
agriculture are the main areas under the jurisdiction of recovery phase. By
passing any of the above phases will make the situations nothing but worst.
Historically, Pakistan has fell victim to disasters many a
times. The earthquake in northern areas in 2005, Hunza landslide, and
military offence against insurgents in Swat and neighboring areas and Air
Blue crash are some of the incidences. The available data suggests that
Pakistan suffered heavily at the hands of these disasters owing to the lack
of efficient disaster management programme.
Recently, the spate of floods that began late in July of 2010
dealt a heavy blow to Pakistan. The floods with such a magnitude have never
been witnessed in the history Pakistan before. Torrential monsoon rains in
KPK, Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab are primarily responsible for the floods.
The heavy rains also affected Indus river basin. Almost 1/5th of Pakistan
submerged in water. Moreover, almost 20 million people were directly
affected by destruction of property, livelihood and infrastructure. And the
death toll rose to about 2,000 people.
Had there been no institute to deal with this natural calamity,
the damage caused by floods would have been much more. However, National
Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was established in the wake of 2005
earthquakes. The purpose behind its establishment was to change national
response to emergency situations from reactionary model to an active
mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery model. NDMA is the executive
arm of National Disaster Management Commission (NDMC) headed by Prime
Minister. Also, NDMA supervises Provincial Disaster Management Authority
(PDMA) and District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA).
the National Disaster Management Authority has been assigned the
task of coordinating the disaster risk management at national level,
implementing disaster risk management strategies, mapping the hazards,
developing guidelines, ensuring the establishment of disaster management
authorities and Emergency Operation Centers (EOCs) at provincial, district
and municipal levels, providing technical assistance to concerned
departments, organizing training to personnel, serving as a lead agency for
NGOs and international cooperation, coordinating with federal government
through National Emergency Operation Center (NEOC) and requiring any
government department or agency to make available needed resources and
personnel. Despite establishment of this organisation assigned with
apparently multifarious tasks, disasters in Pakistan are hardly managed
effectively.
Disaster management in Pakistan has largely remained
unsatisfactory. The underlying factors responsible for its inefficiency,
besides insufficient resources, are lack of proactive approach and
transparency. Moreover, this agency falls well short of credibility,
strategy and infrastructure which lie at the very heart of these critical
situations. Another factor that hampers the smooth functioning of disaster
management process is duplication of efforts which arises due to the lack of
integration between various agencies and organisations involved in
management. Consequently, these multiple factors render management process
weak and, therefore, people bear the brunt on their shoulders.
Weaker disaster management, nevertheless, accounts for the
damages caused by floods uptill now. as International Monetary Fund puts it,
"Floods which have devastated Pakistan will present a massive economic and
political challenge to its government and people." apart from economic and
political losses, looming food crisis, ravaged infrastructure, multiple
health related problems and increased chances of proliferation of Taliban
are but a few adverse impacts of weak disaster management.
Speaking of the food crisis, almost 17 million acres of
agricultural land submerged under water. According to Daily Finance "A major
concern was that the farmers would be unable to meet the fall deadline for
planting new seeds in 2010 which implied a loss of food production in 2011
and potential long-term food shortages." additionally, seven lac acres
cotton crops, two lac acres sugarcane, two lac acres rice, five lac tones of
stocked wheat, three lac acres of animal fodder and stores of grain were
lost besides two lac livestock.
In addition to food crisis, outbreak of various diseases has
further aggravated the situations. Scores of people have been communicated
the fatal disease like gastroenteritis and diarrhea due to the
non-availability of clean drinking water and proper sanitation facilities.
Also, the eruption of cholera and multiple skin disease along with malaria
has spread fear among flood affectees. Apart from these diseases, there is a
sheer dearth of maternity care for thousands of pregnant women. Thus, these
victims need medical attention on war footings to save invaluable human
lives.
According to Ball State University Center estimate, around 3916
km highway and about 5646 km railway track has been damaged. Their repair
costs are expected to be at least $158 million and $131 million,
respectively. On the other hand, public damage accounting to almost $1
billion resulted in response to floods. Richard Holbrook, late U.S. special
representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan was reported to have said that
around 5000 schools were destroyed in floods.
Not only this, Pakistan received a jolt economically as well. In
this regard International Labour Organisation (ILO) said that almost 5.3
million people became jobless. Therefore, "productive and labour intensive
job creation programmes are urgently needed to lift millions of people out
of poverty that has been aggravated by flood damage." furthermore GDP would
decline from overall 4% to -2 to -5%. Crop losses would stubbornly impact
textile industry: the largest manufacturing industry of Pakistan.
As soon as Pakistan Army diverted from fighting Taliban
insurgents in the north-west to help in relief efforts, Taliban fighters
were given a reprieve to regroup, said Associated Press. Over and above, the
jobless, desperate and dejected youngsters from the affected areas are an
easy prey for Taliban. It may give rise to a new army of Taliban to fight
against state, given the inefficiency of government to address the problems
of the victims.
If observed politically, public may perceive the government
inefficient thus giving rise to an episode of political unrest. Not only
people, the outside donors have also become skeptic. In such a state of
circumstances, Army is being looked upon as saviour. This is, nevertheless,
unfavourable for the political climate of Pakistan. More than that,
migration of internally displaced people to urban areas incited urban
sectarian discord which further hindered the process of management of
disaster.
In the light of above facts, it is evident that Pakistan is in
dire need of an organised disaster management programmed to carry out its
functions in an efficient and desirable way. So far, disorganised and ad hoc
methods and procedures are in practice in disaster management system. It is
because of the aforementioned problems that Pakistan suffered more.
Therefore, it is incumbent upon Government of Pakistan to revise its
policies of disaster management.
In other words, disaster management should be amongst the top
priorities of government. National Disaster Management Authority should be
strengthened by proper allocation of funds and maintenance of transparency.
On the other hand, establishment of some small dams is also necessary. These
dams will not only store water, they will avert any dangerous consequences
of floods. Besides, it should be provided with modern equipments,
technically trained personnel. In this regard, communication between
concerned agencies and with people is a must. Embankment of rivers, early
warnings, rapid evacuation, nomination of danger zones prior to disaster,
establishment of rescue centers and creating public awareness about
disasters and safety techniques with their inclusion in curriculum will
surely pay dividends.
Disasters often come without early warnings, recent floods in
Pakistan, however, took a gradual course. Want of sound disaster management
policies and their implementation resulted in grave damages to Pakistan.
Therefore, the onus lies upon Government of Pakistan to revise its policies
and strengthen institutions to not only tackle such situations but making
them to our best use. It is high time that government as well as every
citizen of Pakistan played its own specific role to bring about a positive
change.

When an essay is written the desire is to find some readers who could evaluate your effort. The way it was being displayed in the post counted it as raw material for an essay. At first it appear to me a copy paste material because it was having no paragraphs and other distributions. Next time whenever you write, make your essay readible, this time I have provided you the same service.

Its a good piece of writing. Keep on working hard. Coherence and flow of ideas are spontanous that give it a balanced outlook. But you know chances of improvement are always there.

__________________
"When Allah leads you to the edge of the cliff, Trust Him Fully, only 1 of 2 things will happen either He will catch you when you fall or He will teach you how to fly"

Thanks Naqvi jee. Chulbul Pandey is very grateful. Actually, you are right, it is a copy paste material since I use mobile internet therefore, I could not compile it. I will try my best to avoid such mistakes in future. This was my first ever post on this forum. I'm really very glad for the kind of service you rendered unto me. I would like other seniors to evaluate my efforts. Thank you Naqvi ji. Thank you very much.

whats your eaay format..or sketch...

are you going to exam next year

your outline is incomplete..add more points

__________________
consistency is key to success.

I assure, you are passed in this essay.

ur essay is good..
if u dnt mind plz add the geographical conditions of pakistan and hold up dis in ur essay,then managment,need and types of managment..

Thank Eshmile.. Thank you very much for supporting a naive writer.

I would surely add the points you told me Paknation..

Well, Rayan, I could not understand your question. You want to clarify something? Please buddy. And so far exams are concerned, I'm not sure about next year since I'm not confident enough. I think meri English kafi week hai bhai. So, let's see what happens. Thanks by the way.