LAHORE, March 31: The Punjab government has decided to establish an autonmous organisation for natural disaster management and make the fire brigade, ambulance service and civil defence part of it.

Punjab Health Minister Dr Tahir Javed stated this while inaugurating a two-day ‘International Conference on Management of Disasters’ organised by the Society of Surgeons at the Aiwan-i-Iqbal here on Friday. He said that establishment of a new disaster management organisation had been necessitated in view of the fact that the system inherited for dealing with fire, bomb blasts and natural calamities was useless and required revamping.

He said that the government had decided to frame new building bylaws to ensure that all new buildings raised in the province in future were capable to withstand earthquake tremors. Attention would also be paid to the safety of existing buildings in general and those housing the schools in particular.

He said that the government had decided to establish an academy for the training of Punjab Emergency Ambulance Service officials in Lahore and introduce the service at the former divisional headquarters, Murree and Sialkot. The emergency service had been established to save the accident victims from death and possible disability.

He said that the participants of the conference would examine the strategy adopted for tackling the emergency after the last year earthquake and evolve a comprehensive plan of action for handling similar situations in future. Their recommendations would be made a part of the disaster management plan.