The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is likely to get the Disaster Risk Insurance plan approved by December this year, providing disaster risk cover to all people in the country. This will be the most comprehensive insurance plan in the world, which would cover life insurance, food security, shelter/rehabilitation, livelihoods shelter and livestock, NDMA Chairman Dr Zafar Qadir informed the National Assembly's Standing committee on Climate Change on Tuesday.
The committee met with Dr Ghulam Haider Samejo in the chair and dicussed a progress report on flood-hit areas in Sindh. Dr Qadir said that recently a presentation was given to Prime Minster on the insurance risk plan, who agreed to it, adding that the plan was likely to be approved by the end of the current calendar year. After the plan was launched, affectees of national disasters would get compensation at their doorsteps within 24 hours, he said.
The Chairman said that the Authority was working on Multi-Hazard Vulnerable Risk Assessment (MHVRA) under which a vulnerability survey would be carried out in 50 most-vulnerable districts at a cost of $10 million per district. The survey could have been initiated in Chitral, Muree and Quetta district with the help of donors, but no allocation was made in the budget 2012-13 for this purpose. Devastating floods in the country, which affected 1.7 million acres of land and a population of 5 million, also claimed as many as 455 lives, said the NDMA chairman.
The situations further deteriorated in Sindh because of lack of co-ordination among relief agencies, said Qadir. He said that government had set aside Rs 4 billion for rehabilitation in Sindh and Balochistan, and work would be started as soon as water receded from affected areas. A re-assessment would be carried out after Eid, after which it would be decided where relief activities should continue, he said.
The committee directed the authorities concerned to expedite relief operation in affected areas. NDMA chairman further briefed the committee that the recent floods claimed 455 lives in the country with the highest in Sindh 258, followed by Baluchistan 65, Punjab 60, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 38, Azad Kashmir 31 and Islamabad 3, besides injuring 2,884 others.
As many as 1.1 million acres of crop area was affected. A total number of 14,370 villages were affected, 9,651 cattle head perished, 402,397 house damaged, including 235,434 completely damaged while 166.963 partially damaged. The NDMA Chairman further informed that NDMA has so far initiated preparedness measures, including the formation of a disaster risk deduction policy, 10-year National Disaster Management Plan, monsoon contingency plan, identification of disaster risk management needs, early warning systems, capacity building of disaster management agencies and land use plans/building codes.
However, more measures, including launching public awareness campaigns, disaster risk management in curricula of schools/colleges/universities, mainstreaming disaster risk reduction in development planning, setting up a national institute of disaster management, a national disaster response force, launching a school safety programme, community-based DRM programme, mobilising youth and corps of volunteers and stockpiling and warehousing needed to be done.
He said that consultations were going on with various universities where disaster risk reduction would be included in curricula. The committee appreciated the authority's role in this regard and extended full support in implementing comprehensive policies to reduce disaster risk.
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