KARACHI: Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, inaugurating a state-of-art Rescue 1122 service, on Tuesday announced that it would be made “a complete package of rescue, relief and rehabilitation” by connecting it with fire brigade service and trauma centres across the province.

“As many as 50 ambulances out of 230 have been launched in the city [Karachi] in the first phase of a comprehensive rescue service under the Rescue 1122 project,” he said and announced that it would be expanded in other divisions and districts of the province.

When called at 1122, Dawn was told by an attendant that the service was active and the newly inducted ambulances were being dispatched in parts of the city by the rescue service. As for lodging complaints, he said that they could also be registered at 1122 along with police emergency number 15.

The inauguration ceremony was organised at the KMC Sports Complex and was attended by provincial ministers - Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, Saeed Ghani, Bari Pitafi, Shehla Raza - CM Advisers, Murtaza Wahab, Haji Rasool Bux - Special Assistants - Waqar Mehdi, Qasim Siraj Soomro - World Bank Country Director Najy Benhassine, Director General Provincial Disaster Management Authority Salman Shah, and others.

50 ambulances deployed in Karachi; to be integrated with police, fire dept soon

The CM said that the provincial government had launched a new ambulance service which was the first step towards establishing Rescue 1122 service in the province.

“Sindh is one of the most vulnerable provinces of the country in terms of climate change, natural disasters and other safety hazards,” he said and added that in the last decade alone, there had been numerous reports of casualties resulting from natural calamities such as recurring heatwaves, flooding, droughts as well as from other catastrophes such as accidents, fires, explosions, or epidemics.

The CM said that due to unprecedented trends of urban expansion and recurring natural as well as human-induced disasters experienced by the province in the last decade, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, the need for such a service had been salient.

He said that it was the duty of the provincial government to undertake measures to ensure public safety and healthcare by addressing different emergencies.

“My government’s top priority is to provide an emergency rescue, relief and rehabilitation service to the people whenever any disaster strikes,” he said and added: “A service which provides aid efficiently and as quickly as possible, a service which deals with the catastrophe as the first responder and tries to mitigate the consequences of it.”

Mr Shah said that under the project, the next phase was to establish a Central Command and Control Centre to coordinate and ensure the efficient use of the Rescue 1122 services.

“Apart from a centralised command centre, work on divisional level headquarters have also begun to operationalise them in a couple of months,” he vowed.

“The provincial government is keen to roll out a similar service to the other districts in the province,” Murad Ali Shah said and added: “Understand the scale of the emergency and how the province along with its people are vulnerable to climate change, natural and human disasters. We are also under the process of preparing a mega project which will improve the delivery of emergency relief service across the whole province.”

Mr Shah disclosed that a proposal for scaling up the rescue stations at all districts of Sindh was being negotiated with the World Bank which would be replicated in the remaining 24 districts of the province soon.

He announced that the Rescue Service 1122 would be linked with fire brigade services and the services of trauma centres.

The CM appreciated the efforts of his Adviser for Relief and Rehabilitation Department Haji Rasool Bux Chandio and his team for materialising the scheme.

He thanked the outstanding contribution of the World Bank for its financial assistance to implement the Sindh Resilience Project, PDMA, Rehabilitation Department with the aim to establish an Emergency Response and “Rescue Service 1122” in the province which would respond “professionally and timely to natural and man-made calamities”.

Mr Shah also extended gratitude to Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif for his support to launch the service with the technical help of Punjab Rescue Service.

Health minister Dr Pechuho, Mr Chandio, Administrator Wahab and WB Country Director Najy Benhassine also spoke on the occasion.

Mr Benhassine handed over the keys of the ambulances to the chief minister. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed between the rehabilitation and health department for launching the Rescue 1122.

CM vows to recover Dua Zehra

Later, talking to media, the chief minister said that the police were working hard to recover Dua Zehra.

He said that the girl had got married in Punjab where the police tried to recover her, but then she moved to KPK. “I am in touch with the KPK government, and their police were trying to comb her out,” he said and added the high court had given time up to Friday, and by the time the girl would be recovered.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2022