PESHAWAR, Jan 21: The federal government, in collaboration with a German organisation, will formulate a geo-risk plan for the disaster-prone Frontier province. The project is aimed at minimising risks to people during natural calamities.

An official said the Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) and German organisation GTZ would prepare the “management of geo-risk” plan for the mountainous and plain areas of the province where some areas had been declared disaster-prone.

The GSP and the GTZ have signed a memorandum of understanding in this regard and the project is likely to be launched in March next.

Sources said that initially the project would be started in Batagram and Dera Ismail Khan districts and would later be extended to other districts.

Sources said the German agency would provide technical and financial assistance for the project.

Geologists and geophysicists from Pakistan and Germany would conduct a survey and design thematic maps of the region, where an earthquake of 7.6 magnitude devastated five districts on Oct 8, 2005, killing more than 22,000 people and affecting over 300,000 inhabitants.

They said that the objective of the plan was to reduce geo-risk to the people in the highly prone seismic zone in northern parts of the province by implementing geo-risk information.

Under the project, personal and instrumental capacity of the GSP concerning assessment of the geo-risk would be enhanced. Maps, guidelines, rules and regulations would be elaborated in a multi-hazard approach to serve as a base for regional planning and disaster management.

Officials said eight of the 24 districts of the province had been declared disaster-prone and floods also caused devastation in the Peshawar valley and southern parts, particularly in the Dera Ismail Khan district, every year.

The disaster-prone districts are Kohistan, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Chitral, Swat, Upper Dir, Buner and Dera Ismail Khan.

In the aftermath of the catastrophic October 2005 quake, the provincial government approved a disaster management strategy for the province under which disaster management bodies would be set up at provincial and district levels.

The strategy having three main components – mitigation, prevention and preparedness – will serve as pillars for future disaster management plans in the province.

In this connection, the provincial government and federal government will prepare a disaster prevention and management plan for the province.

Officials said the government had allocated Rs150 million for the plan and it would be completed in two years.