HYDERABAD, June 16: The Sindh government has hiked allocation for the ministry of rehabilitation by 300 per cent in 2012-13 budget to enable it to adequately handle disaster management and rehabilitation of people in the event of natural calamities.
The allocation has been increased to Rs6 billion from last year’s Rs2 billion but no funds have been earmarked for installation of earlywarning system.
The ministry is finalising a contingency plan for monsoon and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah will chair a meeting in this regard on Monday.
Representatives of navy and army will also attend the meeting. The ministry has also consulted with deputy commissioners and commissioners and incorporated their proposals in the plan.
According to Sindh Rehabilitation Minister Muzaffar Shujra, the allocation has been raised by 300 per cent but there is still room for improvement. “We need ambulances, helicopter and fire tenders,” Mr Shujra told Dawn on phone on Saturday.
The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) started working in the wake of 2010 super floods which hit right bank of the Indus in August, badly affecting seven districts.
“We have just concluded an exercise. We talked to divisional commissioners to learn what problems they may face in the event of a disaster,” the minister said.
“Tents are being purchased beforehand. We have 42 boats that are being repaired and several pumping machines to drain out rainwater from flooded areas,” he said.
All deputy commissioners had been directed to allocate two per cent of funds of their districts towards disaster management, he said.
“We need half an acre land in each district to set up a godown to store goods necessary to fight disaster,” he said.
Initially, emergency centres were being set up in Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur which would be linked with a wireless system for which the government had sought permission from federal government for availing frequency, he added. He said that Sindh would form its“Sindh 1122” rescue service. “In this connection we want civil defense department under our ministry and their workers will be trained under the UNDP,” he said.
So far, 32 people have been trained to shift people in case of disaster. More people are to be trained for each district.
Raised platforms and early warning system
In the wake of last year’s monsoon rains, it was decided that elevated platforms would be built in disaster-prone areas to shift evacuees to the platforms as an interim relief but it has not been done yet.
Mr Shujra said the platforms could not be built because the government had used up all funds towards rehabilitation, relief and payment under Pakistan Card which came to around Rs22 billion.
He said that only meteorological department had early-warning system. “The met office can only have a forecast for two to three days whereas international met authorities predict for 50 years,” he said, adding that early- warning system could be installed in Sindh as well.
According to chairman of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) Mohammad Ali Shah, who works in the coastal areas, Pakistan is a disaster prone country. “Cuba is routinely hit by disasters but there is lesser number of casualties there. They even don’t have huge financial losses.
Disaster management arrangements are made at central and local levels. Every country which is prone to disaster has set up early warning systems,” he said.
He said the PFF had its own wireless system which offered help during disasters. “When we get information about likely cyclone we use our wireless system to call back fishermen to the shore from deep sea,” he said. “Why can’t Sindh government have its own early-warning system is incomprehensible,” he said.