ISLAMABAD, Nov 23 The Capital Development Authority (CDA) on Monday got the operational command of the highly-sophisticated and well-equipped Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team raised by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in collaboration with international partners.

The command was formally handed over to CDA Chairman CDA Inayat Elahi by NDMA chief Lt-G (retired) Farooque Ahmed Khan in a ceremony held here at the USAR Academy. Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira was the chief guest.

Salient features of the team are high-tech search and rescue, canine component (search dogs), operational self-sustainability and local and international deployment capability.

Approximately $2 million dollars worth of search and rescue equipment has been arranged by the NDMA for the team, which had already undergone an extensive training course over the last 18 months.

The command of the first such team was recently handed over to City District Government Karachi.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Kaira appreciated the performance of NDMA and said that in two years of its existence, the authority had achieved a major milestone by raising two urban search and rescue teams.

He said during 2005 earthquake, need for a NDMA-like institution was felt very badly as Pakistan had no organisation to conduct rescue on relief activities on modern lines.

“This institution is as crucial as any other important institution,” Mr Kaira remarked. During the past two years, several questions were raised as to what will be its role. However, within a short span of time, it has come up with the establishment of two search and rescue teams trained and equipped on modern lines under the supervision of foreign experts.

Mr Kaira said the well-equipped search and rescue team in Islamabad could cater to the needs of Azad Kashmir, NWFP and major parts of the Punjab province. However, he urged for training a similar team for NWFP, which was facing the brunt of the terrorist activities.

Qamar Zaman Kaira, who is also the governor of Gilgit-Baltistan and Minister for Kashmir Affairs, said unfortunately some parts of the country were developed on the fault lines and there were more chances of natural disasters in such areas. He stressed the need for establishment of a similar search and rescue team for Gilgit-Baltistan.

Speaking at the occasion, the NDMA chairman urged the CDA to pay close attention to the maintenance and practice of the team to maintain its operational capability.

Kaira also thanked the Swiss, British and Swedish governments for providing latest technology, equipment and training to the NDMA teams raised for meeting any disaster situations. He hoped the NDMA would also prepare more such teams for other parts of the country.

The decision to raise the teams, which will significantly enhance disaster response capacity of the City District Government Karachi and CDA, was taken in the wake of the lessons learnt from October 2005 earthquake.

Soon after its establishment in early 2007, the NDMA decided to enable Pakistan in the field of urban search and rescue, and in a short span of time now these two teams were in place to play their critical role in saving lives at collapsed structures.

After completion of 18 months training phase, these teams have participated in first ever National Urban Search and Rescue Exercise held in Karachi and Islamabad on a simulated scenario of collapsed structures. On completion of the exercise, both the teams have become operational.