Budgetary allocations for Disaster Risk Management (DRM) should be adequate, timely and realigned to meet the objectives of newly created institutional mechanism under National Disaster Management Act 2010. Moreover, it is important to allocate more resources for preparedness so that disaster risks could be reduced effectively.
This was the crux of the policy dialogue titled "Flood 2010: Governance Issues in Disaster Risk Management Framework" jointly organised by ActionAid Pakistan and Institute of Social and Policy Sciences (I-SAPS) here on Tuesday. The dialogue underlined the significance of an effective framework for disaster risk management in the country and demanded immediate compensation for the flood affected communities, particularly the women and vulnerable sections of the society.
Addressing on the occasion Ahmad Kamal, member Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), said that no allocation has so far been made in the public sector development programme (PSDP) for the disaster management, which could hamper the efforts to effectively handle disaster risks in the upcoming monsoons.
Kamal alleged that existing budgetary allocation for disaster risk management was flawed as more than 99 percent of the funds were being spent on flood response, whereas there was literally a meager amount being spent on disaster preparedness. He hinted that NDMA was in process of finalising the national contingency plan that would soon be made public.
He further said that more money should be spent on preparedness than response to effectively reduce the disaster risks. However, more pro-active steps have been taken to reduce the disaster risks. While highlighting the institutional, legal and financial lacunas in national disaster management, the speakers asked the government to have appropriate systems in place to deal with the grievances' of flood affected communities who did not get Watan cards. They also demanded immediate release of second instalment to those who got Watan cards.
They said that the Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMAs) lack required capacities to efficiently respond disaster, therefore appropriate steps should be taken to improve the skills and abilities of the PDMAs so that they could play the leading role in co-ordinating response to floods and other disasters.
They said presently the structure of Disaster Management Authority does not exist at the district level, causing serious issues in responding the disasters. They demanded of the government to make DDMA functional. They criticised the parliament for not making proper efforts in drafting National Disaster Management Act 2010. Therefore, a comprehensive review of NDM Act 2010 should be made to avoid duplication of roles and responsibilities.
Dr Salman Hamayoun, Executive Director ISAPS, said that lack of co-ordination in response to floods 2010 was not only among the public and civil society organisations, but it was also evident in different organs of the United Nations dealing with the flood disaster.
PDMA representatives from Punjab, Balochistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir were also present on the occasion. They noted down the observations made by the participants of the policy-dialogue and pledged to incorporate the feedback in their future course of actions. Azhar Lashari of ActionAid laid emphasis on the need for effective institutional framework to cope with the disaster such as floods 2010. Ahmad Ali and Rabia Shabbir of ISAPS highlighted legal and financial aspects of DRM respectively.