CIVIL defence is the protection of civilians by the civilians from hazards and disasters, be it natural or man-made. Its aim is to minimise the number of casualties and damages to essential services. In today’s turbulent world plagued by conflicts and wars, the importance of civil defence has increased, and this is also evident from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and other war theatres around the world.

By joining civil defence, not only can one protect oneself, but also other members of society, apart from property in the event of any air, land or naval attack.

The civil defence mechanism came into existence in 1948 in the shape of the Air Raid Precaution (ARP) unit after World War II. In 1951, the organisation was renamed Civil Defence under the Civil Defence Ordinance 1951 (later amended as Civil Defence Act 1952) and Civil Defence (Special Powers) Rule 1951.

Every year, March 1 is marked as the World Civil Defence Day under the auspices of the International Civil Defence Organisation (ICDO) headquarters in Geneva. For this year, the theme was ‘Civil defence and management of displaced populations in the face of disasters and crises; role of volunteers and the fight against pandemics.’

Apart from war-time operations, during peace time, civil defence department trains volunteers and workers to inspect fire protection measures at industrial/commercial premises, to provide medical first aid, and to rescue people in case of fire, floods, earthquake and other hazards.

In Pakistan, unfortunately, the World Civil Defence Day passed without anybody taking any notice of it. We need to create more awareness about civil defence as we live in a world where there are more man-made disasters, like conflicts between countries, and natural disasters, like floods and heatwaves, due to various reasons.

Faique Ali
Deputy Controller, Civil Defence
Jacobabad

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2022