October 24, 2005	Monday	Ramzan 19, 1426

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 23: A disaster management system (DMS) is being introduced in Islamabad to cope with any October 8-like situation in future, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) chairman, Kamran Lashari, told Dawn on Sunday.

“The system would be the first of its kind in Islamabad because before the earthquake that struck on October 8, no organization like Civil Defence and fire brigade, had this sort of system,” he said.

Mr Lashari said the assistance of Japan and Turkey, which were prone to earthquakes and already had DMS, had been sought to establish a similar system in the capital.

The Fire and Rescue Department of Karachi, which had sent its team here and conducted a rescue operation at Margalla Towers and Kashmir, would also help in establishing DMS in the federal capital.

“I have also directed my staff to download any information through the internet that would help in setting up the system,” the CDA chairman said.

He said first of all there was a need to club together all the resources available with the CDA, the capital administration and other relevant institutions.

In this connection the authority, he said, had started enlisting of NGOs, doctors, philanthropists and volunteers who had worked day and night in the rescue and relief operations in Islamabad and Azad Kashmir.

“If we have complete information of the NGOs and their work and data of volunteers, we can call them at once in case of any emergency,” the CDA chief said.

“Unfortunately we have no culture of volunteerism in the country, and a need for such a spirit was desperately felt in the October 8 tragedy. I was stunt to hear that the British team that conducted a rescue operation at Margalla Towers comprised volunteers and not regular rescue or civil defence staff,” the official said.

The support from the government as well as philanthropists would be sought to purchase essential equipment that the country’s civil defence organizations lacked.

Beside establishing the DMS, the permanent system of awareness and training of civil society about civil defence would also be started so that people in Islamabad could cope with any untoward situation in future.

“In case of an earthquake, people should know how to react, if they are in a highrise building or on the road,” the chairman said.

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