SHANGLA: Speakers at a seminar held here on Saturday stressed the need for the local communities and stakeholders to play their due role in mitigating the impact of natural disasters on the most vulnerable people.

A non-government organisation, Pak Mission Society (PMS), arranged the seminar in Bisham to create awareness among the people of Shangla, Lower and Upper Kohistan and Kolai Pallas districts about the significance of collaborative efforts to mitigate the impact of natural disasters on their lives.

The speakers said women of the disaster-prone Shangla and Kohistan regions had been particularly affected as they didn’t have access to healthcare nor did they receive proper nutrition.

Ayesha Saeed, Kolai Pallas district education officer (women), said people needed to adopt the ways to ensure risk reduction in the event of a natural disaster.

She said she planned to hold a meeting with the teachers and inform them about the techniques of minimising the risks in disaster-prone areas and to create awareness about it in schools and their communities.

Ms Saeed urged the government and non-government organisations to come forward and create awareness among the vulnerable communities through different channels to protect their lives and their future from natural disasters.

Sharafat Ali, an education department official, said combating natural disasters was not the primary responsibility of the government, and the communities too needed to play their role in reducing the risks by carrying out tree plantations, avoiding constructions near rivers, streams and deforestation.

Fazal Azeem, a representative of PMS, said the NGO was working on the disaster management in Shangla and Kohistan regions in collaboration with the district administrations and local stakeholders.

ACCIDENT: Three people, including a woman, were injured when a car and a pick-up van collided on the Karakoram Highway in Batkot area of Bisham tehsil on Saturday.

Rescue 1122 spokesman Rasool Khan Sharif told Dawn that both the vehicles were heading in the opposite directions when they collided.

He said a rescue team shifted the injured to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2024