KARACHI: Sindh Emergency Service will be established at divisional headquarters in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Shaheed Benazirabad, Mirpurkhas, and Larkana under Sindh Resilience Project.

According to official document of the project, district level Rescue Stations will be established at Sujawal, Sehwan, Nausheroferoz, Jacobabad, Ghotki, North Karachi and Korangi after completion of feasibility study.

The emergency service will be modelled after successful emergency services elsewhere in the country, and also include dimensions of disaster management to establish a cadre of well-trained and equipped first responders.

The service will specialise in urban search and rescue to respond to natural disasters such as earthquakes, urban flooding, windstorms, as well as man-made disasters. It will support development of operational facilities, training of personnel, provision of emergency and rescue vehicles, command vehicles, personal protective gear and related equipment. Training of teams will include up-to-date search and rescue certification.

Under this project implementation support and technical assistance to Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Sindh would be extended and support PDMA Sindh to undertake project activities from the original project design, which are part of the capacity development plan for PDMA and DDMAs.

This will include technical assistance and consultancy services; incremental operating costs, including engagement of additional short-term resources not available within the department; and project expenditures in such areas as procurement and financial management systems, grievance redressal mechanism (GRM), as well as social and environmental safeguards mechanisms.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021