INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH PAPER

“Evaluation of Disaster Management Practices adopted in KPK”

78th Pre- Service Course for PMS & ETO’s Govt of KPK

Pakistan Provincial Services Academy

By

SANA HAFEEZ, 78th PMS

A paper submitted to the Faculty of the Pakistan Provincial Services Academy, Peshawar,
in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the PPSA 78th Pre-Service course.

The paper is the end product of my own efforts, research and writing and has not, in
whole or in part, been submitted elsewhere for assessment and its contents are not plagiarized.
The paper reflects my own views and is not necessarily endorsed by the faculty.

Signature……………………

Date: ………………….

Paper supervised by
Mr. Turab Khan Jadoon
Contents
1. Introduction..............................................................................................................................4
1.1 Background............................................................................................................................5
1.2 Statement of Problem........................................................................................................6
1.3 Objectives..............................................................................................................................7
1.4 Scope and Significance..........................................................................................................7
1.5 Methodology..........................................................................................................................7
Section- 1: Understanding of Disaster Management.......................................................................7
1.6 Disaster..............................................................................................................................7
a. Climate change..................................................................................................................8
b. Environmental degradation...........................................................................................8
1.7 Hazard...............................................................................................................................8
1.8 Hazards in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province..................................................................9
Vulnerability............................................................................................................................9
Capacity.................................................................................................................................10
1.9 Classification of hazards......................................................................................................10
1.9 Mitigation of Hazard.......................................................................................................12
a. Sustainable development.................................................................................................12
b. Resilience....................................................................................................................13
c. Land-use planning...........................................................................................................13
1.10 Disaster Management..................................................................................................13
Emergency Management.......................................................................................................14
Early warning systems (EWS)...............................................................................................14
Mitigation..............................................................................................................................15
Disaster Risk..............................................................................................................................16
Elements at risk......................................................................................................................16
Disaster Risk Assessment......................................................................................................16
Disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management...........................................................17
Section- 2: Previous work..............................................................................................................18
Section-3: Legal and organizational Framework of Disaster Management..................................19
1. Pakistan Emergency Services Ordinance and Pakistan......................................................22
Emergency and Fire Code.....................................................................................................22
2. Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA)....................................23

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 3. Post-2005 institutional framework under NDMA Act.......................................................23
4. National Disaster Management Act 2010...........................................................................24
Section-4: Overview of present Disaster Management Practices.............................................24
1. National Disaster Management Authority..........................................................................25
2. Provincial Disaster Management Authority.......................................................................25
3. District & Local Disaster Management Authorities...........................................................25
4. Local government authorities.............................................................................................27
5. Local governance................................................................................................................27
International Standards of Disaster Management..................................................................28
Section 5: Analysis........................................................................................................................29
Conclusions....................................................................................................................................31
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................32
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................33

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 Evaluation of Disaster Management Practices adopted in KPK

1. Introduction

Pakistan, due to its geography and climatic conditions is highlyprone to different

hazards. The catastrophes, both natural and manmade, results in heavy loss of livelihoods and
human lives, as well as damage theinfrastructure and property. In Pakistan, the floods,
earthquake, cyclones, drought and terrorism are the frequent hazards and effect the
livelihoods, human lives and infrastructure. The disaster impacts in the society are more
visible on the children’s, women, aged and disable persons. The history of Pakistan shows
that, in the period 1947 to 2014 one hundred and seventy two natural disasters occurred
resulted in near 9.5 million people homeless and loss of 11 hundred thousand human lives.
The heavy damages in result of disasters shows the lack of preparedness, planning and the
inadequate institutional and organizational capacity for disaster management. Pakistan lies on
a seismic belt and is therefore prone to earthquakes of smaller and larger earthquakes
occasionally.

Table 1 Hazards in Pakistan and frequency of most significant hazards (1954-2004)

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 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, covering the area of 74,521 km², is home to over 27
million in habitants1. The province shares borders with Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu &
Kashmir, Punjab and the Federally Administered Areas (FATA). In addition to the threat
of multiple natural hazards, the Province is susceptible to complex humanitarian
emergencies, armed-conflicts and civil strife due to its proximity with war torn
Afghanistan as well as the troubled FATA. The Province has also been hosting over 1.8
million registered Afghan refugees since decades now.In KPK, mostly Abbottabad,
Battagram, Chitral, Mansehra, Peshawar, Shangla and Swat are susceptible to earthquake.
The floods and flash floods are frequent in districts, Charsada, Dera Ismail Khan,
Nowshehra and Peshawar. District Chitral is vulnerable to avalnches and mostly
landslides occur in Kaghan, Naran and Chitral.

Disaster Management refers to the plans, arrangements and actions organized

before, during and after a disaster through coordination among different communities,
governmental and non-governmental organizations. These arrangements are usually
divided into four phases of a disaster management cycle: Preparedness, mitigation,
response and relief. (NDRP 2010) It includes all measures, activities and programs taken
up before, during and after a disaster to prevent it, reduce its effect and recover from
damages.

1.1 Background

October, 2005 was the defining moment in the history of disaster management operations
in Pakistan, dragging attention of the disaster management policy makers and planners in
the country towards a wide range of natural and man-made hazards. One major step was
the establishing National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and subsidiary
provincial authorities, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) in 2007.
The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recognized PDMC and PDMA on 27 th October,
2008 to promote better rapid and better disaster preparedness and management within the
province. The NDMA currently focuses on the preparedness mechanisms, rescue, relief
and recovery operations and rehabilitation efforts at the provincial and district levels.
The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is committed to focus on the taking
proactive measures in all 25 districts of the province, so that the communities are well

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 equipped to mitigate the risk and manage a disaster well, if and when it occurs. The
PDMA Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is committed to align all DRR related activities with the
UN-ISDR Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA, 2005-2015) and National Disaster
Management Plan (NDMP, 2012-2022) and National Disaster Management Policy 2012.

1.2 Statement of Problem

Disaster management in Pakistan mostly revolves around flood disasters with a

primary focus on rescue and relief. After each disaster episode the government incurs
considerable expenditure directed at rescue, relief and rehabilitation. Within disaster
management bodies in Pakistan, there is a dearth of knowledge and information about
hazard identification, risk assessment and management, and linkages between livelihoods
and disaster preparedness. Disaster management policy responses are not generally
influenced by methods and tools for cost-effective and sustainable interventions.
There are no long-term, inclusive and coherent institutional arrangements to
address disaster issues with a long-term vision. Disasters are viewed in isolation from the
processes of mainstream development and poverty alleviation planning. For example,
disaster management, development planning and environmental management institutions
operate in isolation and integrated planning between these sectors is almost lacking.
Absence of a central authority for integrated disaster management and lack of
coordination within and between disaster related organizations is responsible for effective
and efficient disaster management in the country. State-level disaster preparedness and
mitigation measures are heavily tilted towards structural aspects and undermine non-
structural elements such as the knowledge and capacities of local people, and the related
livelihood protection issues.
Due to the unique geography of the KPK province, an effective disaster response
remains a challenge both for the Provincial Government and for the humanitarian
organizations. Inadequate road infrastructure makesit difficult to quickly reach the
population living in the remote and inaccessible mountainous areas in the wake of any
natural or human-induced disaster.

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1.3 Objectives

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the Disaster Management authorities’

efficiency and service delivery. Furthermore, the objective of research are:

 To evaluate the present disaster management practices in KPK in disaster prone

areas.
 To compare the current hierarchy and performance of the organizations with the
international agencies by analyzing the standards and best practices.

1.4 Scope and Significance

This study will help to identify the shortcomings of the Disaster Management
practices in the disaster prone areas of KPK and will propose some policy interventions.
Furthermore, this study provides the cost-effective and sustainable methods and tools for
Disaster management policy responses.

1.5 Methodology

This study is descriptive and analytical in nature, data wascollected from Secondary
sources. The secondarysources include Pakistan’s disaster related laws and policies
inPakistan, and research literature published in variousnational/international journals.

Section- 1: Understanding of Disaster Management

1.6 Disaster
A serious distraction of the functioning of a community or a society involving
widespread material, human, economic or environmental losses and impacts, that exceeds
the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources (United
Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction 2004). A disaster occurs when a
hazard impacts upon a vulnerable population and causes casualties,damage and
disruption.

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 Causes:
a. Climate change

The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines climate change

as, “a change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g., by using statistical
tests) by changes in the mean and the variability of its properties, and that persists for an
extended period, typically decades or longer. Climate change may be due to natural
internal processes or external forces, or to persistent anthropogenic changes in the
composition of the atmosphere or in land use”.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
defines climate change as “a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to
human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is, in
addition to natural climate variability, observed over comparable time periods”. Climate
change is a change in the average weather that a given region experiences. Average
weather includes temperature, wind pattern and precipitation. Today, the climate change
is happening at a very fast speed. This is enhancing the occurrence of extreme hazardous
events.
b. Environmental degradation

Degradation of the environment can alter the frequency and intensity of natural
hazards and increase the vulnerability of communities. The types of human induced
degradation vary and include land misuse, soil erosion and loss, desertification, wild fire,
loss of biodiversity, deforestation, mangrove destruction, pollution of natural resources,
climate change, sea level rise and ozone depletion.

1.7 Hazard
A hazard is the dangerous phenomenon, human activity or condition,substance
that may cause injury or other health impacts, loss of life, loss of livelihoods and services,
property damage, social and economic disruption, or environmental damage.Hazard is an
event or occurrence that has the potential to cause injuries to life and damage property or
the environment. Examples of natural hazards are floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, etc.

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 Landslides, floods, droughts and fires can be described as socio-natural hazards since
their causes are both natural and man-made. The distinction between natural and man-
made hazards is becoming harder to define. For example, flooding may be increased
through landfill, drainage or groundwater extraction.
Storm surge hazard may be worsened by the destruction of mangroves. Human-
made hazards are associated with industrial or energy generation facilities and include
explosions, leakage of toxic waste, pollution and dam failures. War, complex conflicts,
terrorism and civil strife are also included in this category. Some hazards can cause
secondary hazards, such as, an earthquake causing landslides can block river flow which
may cause flooding. A community may be exposed to multiple hazards as a result of
secondary hazards.

1.8 Hazards in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province

The Province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is in the grip of major hazards, having the
potential to damage people and property on regular intervals:Major hazards in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa are;
1. Earthquake
2. Landslide
3. Drought
4. Epidemic
5. Industrial
6. Flood
7. GLOF
8. Avalanche
9. Fire
10. Conflict

Vulnerability

Vulnerability is a set of prevailing or consequential conditions, which adversely affect

people’s ability to prevent, mitigate, prepare for and respond to hazardous events. These

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 long-term factors affect a household’s or community’s ability to absorb losses after disaster
and to recover from the damage. Vulnerabilities precede disasters, contribute to their
severity, impede disaster response and may continue to exist long after a disaster has struck.
These long-term factors affect a household’s or community’s ability to absorb losses after
disaster and to recover from the damage.

Capacity

Capacities are the assets, resources and skills available within a community, society
or organisation that can be used to reduce the risks or effects of a disaster. Capacity may
include physical, institutional, social or economic means as well as skilled personnel or
collective attributes such as leadership and management. Capacities enable households and
communities to cope with, withstand, prepare for, prevent, mitigate, or quickly recover from
a disaster. People’s capacity can also be classified in the same categories as was done with
vulnerabilities in the previous section. People whose houses or crops have been destroyed by
an earthquake or flood can recover things from their homes and from their farms that can be
recycled. Sometimes they have food in storage or crops that can be recovered from the fields.
Some family members have skills which enable them to find employment if they migrate,
either temporarily or permanently.

In most disasters, people suffer greatest losses in the physical and material realm.
However, even when everything physical is destroyed, people still have their skills and
knowledge, they have family and community organisation, they have leaders and systems for
making decisions, they have tribal loyalties or religious affiliations and they have capacities
in the social and organisational realm. These are important capacities and form the basis for
development just as much as the physical resources that people have.

1.9 Classification of hazards

Hazards are classified into four major categories. Major hazards in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa
1. Natural hazards i.e.
a. Hydro-meteorological hazards
b. Geological hazards
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 2. Human induced or socio-nature hazards
3. Technological hazards
4. Biological hazards

1. Natural Hazards

Natural process or phenomenon that may cause loss of life, injury or other health
impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic disruption,
or environmental damage. Natural hazards are a subset of all hazards. The term is used to
describe actual hazard events as well as the latent hazard conditions that may give rise to
future events. Natural hazard events can be characterised by their magnitude or intensity,
speed of onset, duration and areas of extent. For example, earthquakes have short durations
and usually affect a relatively small region, whereas, droughts are slow to develop and often
affect larger regions. In some cases, one hazard may be triggered by another hazard, such as
the flood caused by a hurricane or the tsunami that is created by an earthquake.

a. Hydro-meteorological hazards

Hydro-meteorological hazardsinclude tropical cyclones (alsoknown as typhoons

andhurricanes), thunderstorms,hailstorms, tornados,blizzards, and avalanches, floods
includingflash floods, heat waves and cold spells. Hydro-meteorological conditions can
alsobe contributing factor in other hazardssuch as landslides, wild fires, locust
plagues,epidemics, dispersal of toxic substancesand volcanic eruption.

b. Geological hazards

Geological process orphenomenon that maycause loss of life, injuryor other health
impacts,property damage, lossof livelihoods and services, social andeconomic disruption, or
environmentaldamage, such as, earthquake, volcaniceruption, land movement, rock fall,
glacialsurge, etc.

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 2. Socio-natural hazards

The phenomenon of increased occurrence of certain geo-physical and hydro-

meteorological hazardous events, such as landslides, floods, land subsidence and drought that
arise from the interaction of natural hazards with over exploited or degraded land and
environmental resources. This term is used to describe the circumstances where human
activity is increasing the occurrence of certain hazards beyond their natural probabilities.
Socio-natural hazardscan be reduced and avoided through wisemanagement of land and
environmentalresources.

3. Technological hazards

A hazard originating from technologicalor industrial conditions, includingscientific

accidents, dangerous procedures,infrastructure failures or specific humanactivities that may
cause loss of life, injury,illness or other health impacts, propertydamage, loss of livelihoods
and services, socialand economic disruption, or environmentaldamage. Examples of
technological hazardsinclude industrial pollution, nuclear radiation,toxic waste, dam failure,
transport accident,factory explosion andchemical spill. Technologicalhazards may also
arisedirectly as a result of theimpacts of a natural hazard.

4. Biological hazard
Process or phenomenon of organic originwhich is conveyed by biological
vectors,including exposure to pathogenic microorganisms,toxins and bioactive substancesthat
may cause loss of life, injury, illness or other health impacts, property damage, loss
oflivelihoods and services, social and economicdisruption, or environmentaldamage.
Examples ofbiological hazards includeoutbreaks of epidemic disease,plant or animal
contagion,insect plagues and infestations.

1.9 Mitigation of Hazard

a. Sustainable development

This definition coined by the 1987 Brundtland Commission is very succinct but it
leaves many questions unanswered, regarding the meaning of the word development and

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 the social, economic, and environmental processes involved. Disaster risk is associated
with unsustainable elements of development such as environmental degradation, while
conversely disaster risk reduction can contribute to the achievement of sustainable
development through reduced losses and improved development practices.

b. Resilience

The ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist,

absorb, accommodate to and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient
manner, through the preservation and functions. Resilience means the ability to “resile
from” or “spring back from” a shock. The resilience of a community, with respect to
potential hazard events, is determined by the degree to which the community has the
necessary resources and is capable of organising itself both prior to and during times of
need.

c. Land-use planning

The process undertaken by local government authorities to identify, evaluate and

decide on different options for the use of land, including consideration of long term
economic, social and environmental objectives and the implications for different
communities and interest groups and the subsequent formulation and promulgation of
plans that describe the permitted or acceptable uses. Land-use planning is an important
contributor to sustainable development. It involves studies and mapping, analysis of
economic, environmental, and hazard data, formulation of alternative land -use decisions
and design of long-range plans for different geographical and administrative scales.
Landuse planning can help to mitigate disasters and reduce risks by discouraging
settlements and construction of key installations in hazard prone areas, including
consideration of service routes for transport, power, water, sewage and other critical
facilities.

1.10 Disaster Management

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 Disaster management is a collective termencompassing all aspects of planning
forand responding to disasters, including bothpre and post disaster activities. It refers
tothe management of both the risks and theconsequences of disasters.
Disaster management comprises of a broadrange of activities designed to:
 Prevent the loss of lives
 Minimise human suffering
 Inform the public and authorities of risk
 Minimise property damage and economicloss
 Speed up the recovery process

Figure 1 Disaster Management Cycle

Emergency Management

The organisation and management ofresources and responsibilities for

addressingall aspects of emergencies, in particularpreparedness, response and initial
recoverysteps.

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 Early warning systems (EWS)

There is no such a thing as a ‘sudden crisis’,but only a lack of information or

analysis.EWS is the set of capacities needed togenerate and disseminate timely
andmeaningful warning information to enableindividuals, communities and
organisationsthreatened by a hazard to prepare and to actappropriately and in sufficient
time to reducethe possibility of harm or loss. A singlebody should be designated with
overallresponsibility for the functioning of earlywarning. This unit should be accountable
forfailures at early warning.

Mitigation

The adverse impacts of hazards often cannot be prevented fully, but their scale or
severity can be substantially lessened by various strategies and actions. Mitigation
measures encompass engineering techniques and hazard resistant construction as well as
improved environmental policies and public awareness. It should be noted that in climate
change policy, “mitigation” is defined differently, being the term used for the reduction
of greenhouse gas emissions that are the source of climate change.

1. Disaster preparedness

Disaster preparedness covers activities to enhance the ability to predict, respond

to, and cope with the effect of a disaster. It includes precautionary activities by
households, communities and organisations to react appropriately during and following
the event.
2. Prevention

Prevention includes measures taken to detect, contain and forestall events or

circumstances, which, if left unchecked, could result in a disaster. Prevention expresses
the concept and intention to completely avoid potential adverse impacts through action
takenin advance. Examples include dams or embankments that eliminate flood risks,
land-use regulations that do not permit any settlement in high risk zones and seismic
engineering designs that ensure the survival of a critical building in any likely
earthquake. Very often the complete avoidance of losses is not possible, however, the

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 impact of the losses could be mitigated. Partly for this reason, the terms prevention and
mitigation are sometimes used interchangeably in casual use.

3. Emergency response

Aggregate of decisions and measures taken to (1) contain or mitigate the effects
of a disastrous event to prevent any further loss of life and property, (2) restore order in
its immediate aftermath, and (3) re-establish normality through reconstruction and
rehabilitation shortly thereafter. The first and immediate response is called emergency
response.
4. Recovery

Recovery is the process to fully restore the community to pre disaster level of
functioning or better than that. This refers to rehabilitation of livelihoods, restoration of
social and economic activities and reconstruction of shelter and infrastructure.

Disaster Risk

Disaster risk is the chance of likelihood of suffering harm and loss as a result of a
hazardous event. It closely depends upon the exposure of something to a hazard. This can
be expressed as:

Risk = Chance (C) x Loss (L)

The output of risk analysis is usually an estimation of the risk scenarios.

Elements at risk

A societal element is said to be ‘at risk’ when it is exposed to hazards and is likely
to be adversely affected by the impact of those hazards when they occur. People (their
lives and health), households and community structures, facilities and services (houses,
access roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, etc.), livelihood and economic activities (jobs,
equipment, crops, livestock, etc.) are described as “elements at risk”. In many cases, the
natural environment is also an element at risk.

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Disaster Risk Assessment

Disaster risk assessment is a participatory process of application of tools and

methodologies to assess the hazards, vulnerabilities and capacities of a community.
Through hazard assessment, the likelihood of the occurrence, the severity and the
duration of various hazards are determined. The assessment takes into account physical,
geographical, economic, social and political factors that make some people vulnerable to
the dangers of a given hazard. In the capacity assessment, the community’s resources and
coping strategies are identified. The result of the disaster risk assessment is a ranking of
the disaster risks of the community as basis of planning for risk reduction.

Disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management

A comprehensive approach to reduce disaster risks is set out in the United Nations
endorsed Hyogo Framework for Action, adopted in 2005, under which the expected
outcome is: “The substantial reduction of disasterlosses, in lives and the social,
economicand environmental assets of communitiesand countries”.

The systematic process of using administrative directives, organisations and

operational skills and capacities to implement strategies, policies and improved coping
capacities to lessen the adverse impacts of hazards and the possibility of disaster.

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 Figure 2 Disaster Risk Management Cycle

Section- 2: Previous work

The present studyexplains the various concepts used in disaster management. The
concepts explained include: Disaster, Hazard, Vulnerability, Capacity, Risk and Disaster
Management Cycle. In addition to the terminologies, the study also seeks to explain various
types of disasters. It also gives a detail of various disasters occurred in Pakistan as well their
management and mitigation strategies. The paper also discusses disaster management policy
at national level as well as disaster management and national plans in Pakistan.

Pakistan is susceptible to natural hazards that include droughts, floods and

earthquakes.

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The country faces severe natural disaster in the last decade. Floods are the one happening
frequently. This paper uses “2010 Floods” as a case study analysis to explore the overall
scenario of pre and post disaster management of Pakistan. The method used in this paper is
exploratory research approach. This research is qualitative base and all the data are collected
from using secondary sources includes Umea University Library online database, National
Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) website and United Nations (UN) reports. The
main problems highlighted in this report are as under, due to which the floods impacts were
far higher than thoughts are as under. Institutional in-capacities, Lack of information among
vulnerable people, Environmental degradation, Poor land use planning and Poverty.

During the last 30 years, Pakistan has undergone extreme transformations with respect
to population and economic conditions. As a hazard-prone country with more people living in
high-risk areas than ever before it is increasingly important to pro-actively address natural and
man-made hazards and the cumulative risks that they pose at multiple spatial and temporal
scales. In this study an assessment has been undertaken of hazards that were selected on the
basis of their frequency and severity. Hazard potential and vulnerability factors were first
derived on the basis of expert opinion. A combination of these factors was then used to create
an integrated total risk assessment map that addresses the socio-economic, environmental and
physical dimensions of vulnerability for the districts of Pakistan. The total integrated
vulnerability map reveals the damage potential and coping capacity of each district, providing
support to decision makers and to end users such as local authorities, non-governmental
organizations and disaster prevention officers, enabling them to (a) decide what is an
acceptable level of risk, (b) determine the level of protection and (c) decide which predefined
mitigation measure to apply.

Floods- Disaster profile of Pakistan clearly entails that the country has experienced
severe and life-threatening flooding in the recent past. During heavy monsoon rains every
year, people’s exposure and vulnerability to extreme flooding increases due to the country’s
current socioeconomic conditions. A fundamental change in the country’s development path
is needed to prevent future catastrophic floods that decouples exposure and vulnerability from
economic growth and is more in harmony with the functioning, capacities and thresholds of
the natural environment. The catastrophic flooding in the country could have been curtailed
19
with the benefit of hindsight and given the optimum management of its political, social and
economic spheres. Mainstreaming disaster risk reduction in the areas of water, sanitation,
health, shelter and livelihoods can enhance community resilience to future disasters by
providing stronger shelter, water and sanitation structures which can withstand floods better;
and increasing people’s assets and knowledge.

Section-3: Legal and organizational Framework of

DisasterManagement

Despite being prone to a host of natural and human induced hazards, there existed no
proper system of identifying, treating and managing risks and disasters until December 2006
when in the backdrop of Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA, 2005-2015) and earthquake
2005 in the country, the National Disaster Management Ordinance (NDMO) was introduced
as a legal instrument for disaster management in Pakistan. National Parliament, Senate and
Four Provincial Assemblies approved and gave a status of permanent act during December
2010 and hence now called as National Disaster Management Act 2010. The Act provides for
the establishment of an institutional system and legal framework for all phases of disaster
including inter-alia: prevention, mitigation, preparedness, contingency planning (Pre-disaster
phase), rescue, response, relief (during disaster phase) and early recovery, rehabilitation,
reconstruction (Post-disaster phase) in addition to devising policies and strategies and
developing DRM plans and programs at federal, provincial, and district levels. NDM Act
2010 and National Disaster Management Policy 2012 govern the whole spectrum of DRM
through following legal bodies at different levels.

Table 2 Legal bodies at different levels

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21
 Figure 3 Institutional and legal arrangement for National Disaster Management

1. Pakistan Emergency Services Ordinance and Pakistan

Emergency and Fire Code

The Pakistan Emergency Service Ordinance and Pakistan Emergency and Fire
Code were enacted in 2002. The enactment was actually a reaction to the fire ignited in
the Shaheed-e-Millat Secretariat building. Since it affected massive number of people,
the government sought to provide for the setting up of a new federal institution through
the aforesaid enactment in order to address such situations in future. The act has also
empowered the Pakistan Emergency and Fire Council to formulate and implement any
code, rules, regulations and specifications in order to ensure the safety of life and

22
property from fires, explosions and other hazardous materials. Subsequently, an entity
was constituted by amalgamating the roles assigned to Civil Defense and Fire Brigade.
This entity was mandated to inspect any building or premises having been built in
violation of the Pakistan Fire Code. This fact is even more ironic that even after years;
the department had still no means to improve discrepancies in its systems.

2. Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA)

The Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) appeared

immediately after the earthquake. The ordinance was notified by Ministry of Law and
Justice and it took effect from November 26, 2009. The ERRA Act was enacted on
March 14, 2011. However, it was enforced as an ex-post facto law from July 1, 2007. It is
important to note that the Act aimed to rehabilitate the victims of 2005 earthquake. The
Authority has been vested in with the powers such as to undertake the construction and
developmental work, seeking information from any person or institution (including army
and civilian) and the transfer of the works to other government agencies.

3. Post-2005 institutional framework under NDMA Act

The earthquake of October 5, 2005, being the decisive landmark in the

institutionalization of DRM under new proactive approach, has played a pivotal role in
the development of a comprehensive institutional framework. Pakistan’s existing
institutional framework was inadequate to deal with the consequences of the massive
earthquake. Need for a harmonized and overarching institutional framework was felt that
could coordinate the national DM efforts by creating a synergy between domestic and
external agencies to mitigate the effects of future disasters. The government has
therefore, rolled up its sleeves and came up with pragmatic initiatives in order to establish
an effective institutional framework of DRM in Pakistan. The National Disaster
Management Commission and Authority (NDMC and NDMA) were established in 2006.
Initially, it was enacted as presidential ordinance in 2006known as National Disaster
Management Ordinance (NDMO) 2006. Later on another disastrous event of 2010 floods
led to the approval of the very ordinance as act of parliament. Therefore, the event of
2005 earthquake has occupied the most dominant role in the institutionalization of DRM
by giving birth to the NDMA. Since the significance of new institutional framework of
23
DRM cannot be undermined, this section provides a critical analysis of the newly evolved
institutional framework that deals with disaster management.

4. National Disaster Management Act 2010

Realizing the expediency of an effective DRM system after the devastative event
of 2005 earthquake, the National Disaster Management Act was approved by the
parliament on August 11, 2010. It deals with the establishment, functions and powers of
statutory administrative agency known as NDMA. The legal foundation of the act lies
with the resolution passed by all provincialassemblies under the article 144 of the
Constitution of Pakistan which says that Parliament may regulate NDMA to overcome
unforeseen situations. The table given below depicts the hierarchy of the new framework
tasked to mitigate and prevent the detrimental impacts of natural disaster.

Figure 4 Institutional Framework for Disaster Risk Management: NDMA Act 2010

Source: National Disaster Risk Management Framework of Pakistan - Feb 2014

Section-4: Overview of present Disaster Management Practices

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 1. National Disaster Management Authority

National Disaster Management Commission (NDMC) was established under the

NDMA Act. The Commission comprises of members including Prime Minister as the
Chairperson of theCommission; Leader of Opposition, key line ministers, Governor
(KPK), Chief Ministers of all Provinces, PM AJ&K, Chief Executive of Northern Areas,
Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and one representative of civil society are the
members. The NDMC lays down policies, approves national plans and issues guidelines
on DRM. It provides funds and constitutes advisory committees as and when required.
National DisasterManagement Authority (NDMA) is responsible for implementing,
coordinating and monitoring of whole spectrum of DRM under the guidelines and
policies laid down by NDMC.

2. Provincial Disaster Management Authority

The Federal structure is replicated in provinces with Provincial Disaster

Management Commission (PDMC), headed by their respective Chief Ministers and the
same way is responsible for policy making at provincial level. The Provincial Disaster
Management Authority (PDMA) is headed by a Director General, who is appointed by
provincial government. PDMA is responsible for formulation, coordination and
implementation of the DRM policies and plans for province.

3. District & Local Disaster Management Authorities

District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) will be chaired by the head of

district council and comprise of District Coordination Officer (DCO), District Police
Officer (DPO) and Executive District Officer (EDO) Health and other district level
officers. It will be responsible for formulation, implementation and coordination of
national and provincial DRM polices and plans at district level. Local authorities under
DDMA shall ensure the availability of the relevant human and material resources at time
of disaster or disaster threat. Furthermore, the authorities will also ensure enforcing
buildings codes in their jurisdiction and carrying out all other pre and post disaster
activities. The Federal Government shall establish National Institute of Disaster
Management (NIDM) for planning and promoting DRM related research, training and

25
development of national data – base on policies, prevention mechanisms and mitigation
measures. A national disaster response force shall be established under NDMA for
specialist response to a threatening disaster situation or disaster.

Figure 5 Local councils and Disaster Management

Federal and provincial governments shall constitute National and Provincial

Disaster Management Funds respectively, which shall be financed by proposed budgetary
allocation, grants, loans, aids and donations etc.
Keeping in view the unique circumstances of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, the
provincial Assembly made some amendments and inserted new clauses. In NDM Act,
2010. Currently, National Disaster Management Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Amendment)

26
Act, 2012, governs the institutional arrangements in the province.The Relief,
Rehabilitation & Settlement Department (RR&SD) had been in existence since 2002.
However, after some revitalization, its functions have been revised with a view of making
its role more robust for disaster risk reduction and disaster management. PDMA was
declared as its attached authority along with Rescue 1122 and Civil Defence.

4. Local government authorities

Local governments are administrative offices of an area smaller than a district.

The term is used to contrast with offices at nation state level, which are referred to as the
central government, national government, or (where appropriate) federal government.
The handbook seeks to find ways to determine the level of understanding of local
government officials with respect to disaster risk and its relation to development,
prosperity and well-being. Furthermore, the handbook outlines the sphere of influence
that local governments can reach out to increase awareness. The biggest challenge
globally is to scale up, and make real changes at local level based on needs of the most
vulnerable groups. DRR is relevant for community development issues of livelihood,
water, sanitation and hygiene, health, education and ecosystem protection.

5. Local governance

Local governance is governing at the local level viewed broadly to include not
only the machinery of government, but also the community at large and its interaction
with local authorities.

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 Figure 6 Other agencies responsible for disaster risk reduction and management at national level

International Standards of Disaster Management

According to the World vision, the set of standards is summarised in the

Standards Frame table that covers all disaster management work and simply explains how
each part fits together. Six overarching quality assurance principles have been built into
the framework and must be applied by all, irrespective of context.
The overarching standards are:
1) Accountability to beneficiaries
2) Quality in programming
3) Quality in operations
4) Quality in staffing
5) Accountability to donors
6) Continual learning and improvement.

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 Figure 7 The Standard Frame for Disaster Management

The Standards Frame applies to all emergencies – irrespective of size, type or who
manages them.It establishes a simple and clear process to follow in responding to an
emergency. It identifies clearer responsibilities for each part of the organisation involved
and includes short and simple document for each ‘box’ in the system.
The Standards Frame starts with the preparedness standards which should be
the normal way of working in every office. Once a disaster has occurred, the declaring
and un-declaring guidelines are used to determine the magnitude (category) of the
disaster and the response model that is national office response, global response,
partnering response or response/monitor context. After this, the response model chosen
will be operationalised. Each has its own separate standards document. Finally, the
transition standard guides the process of moving the response towards longer term
programming or phase out.

Section 5: Analysis

The Disaster management in Pakistan basically revolves around flood disasters with a
primary focus on rescue and relief. After each disaster episode the government incurs
considerable expenditure directed at rescue, relief and rehabilitation.The applied disaster

29
management policy sometimes carries strategic biases that are aimed at protecting
locations and infrastructure of greater economic, political and strategic significance at the
cost of areas and communities with lesser influence and importance.Within disaster
management bodies in Pakistan, there is a dearth of knowledge and information about
hazard identification, risk assessment & management, and linkages between livelihoods
and disaster preparedness. Disaster management policy responses are not generally
influenced by methods and tools for costeffective and sustainable interventions.There are
no long-term, inclusive and coherent institutional arrangements to address disaster issues
with a long-term vision. For instance, the Emergency ReliefCell is mandated to deal only
with post-disaster scenarios.Disasters are viewed in isolation from the processes of
mainstream development and poverty alleviation planning. Some of the large-scale
development projects are bringing new forms of disaster and adding to the vulnerability
of at-risk communities. The Left Bank Outfall Drainage (LBOD) project and link canals
are significant examples in Pakistan.

Disaster management, development planning and environmental management institutions

operate in isolation and integrated planning between these sectors is almost
lacking.Absence of a central authority for integrated disaster management and lack of
coordination within and between disaster related organizations is responsible for effective
and efficient disaster management in the country.State-level disaster preparedness and
mitigation measures are heavily tilted towards structural aspects and undermine non-
structural elements such as the knowledge and capacities of local people, and the related
livelihood protection issues.Disaster and relief departments and organizations largely
remain under-resourced, untrained, and not given required importance within
administrative hierarchy. A dedicated fund for disaster management at the federal level
has never been a part of the overall development planning. The officials of two important
organizations engaged in disaster management e.g. Emergency Relief Cell and Federal
Flood Commission are not provided with adequate training. A great deal of uncertainty
prevails among government employees about their stay in any disaster related
organization / department, which contributes towards working with less interest and
efficiency.Given the frequent incidence of floods during monsoon season the government
has taken adequate measures for flood control and management down to district level.
30
 The Pakistan Army plays a significant role in flood management by providing search and
rescue services and emergency relief in affected areas. FloodCommission commences
flood fighting plans every year in April and monitors the discharge of water at
strategically important barrages and dams, and maintains a regular interaction with all
provincial governments in pre, during and post flood situations. The district, provincial
and federal governments prepare flood fighting plans annually and ensure timely
dissemination of early warning through indigenous and modern modes of
communication.

Conclusions
There has been a dramatic increase in disasters and the damages caused by them
in the recent past.Disaster management in Pakistan basically revolves around flood
disasters with a primary focus on rescue and relief. After each disaster episode the
government incurs considerable expenditure directed at rescue, relief and rehabilitation.
Within disaster management bodies in Pakistan, there is a dearth of knowledge and
information about hazard identification, risk assessment and management, and linkages
between livelihoods and disaster preparedness. Disaster management policy responses are
not generally influenced by methods and tools for cost-effective and sustainable
interventions.
There are no long-term, inclusive and coherent institutional arrangements to
address disaster issues with a long-term vision. Disasters are viewed in isolation from the
processes of mainstream development and poverty alleviation planning. For example,
disaster management, development planning and environmental management institutions
operate in isolation and integrated planning between these sectors is almost lacking.
Absence of a central authority for integrated disaster management and lack of
coordination within and between disaster related organizations is responsible for effective
and efficient disaster management in the country. State-level disaster preparedness and
mitigation measures are heavily tilted towards structural aspects and undermine non-
structural elements such as the knowledge and capacities of local people, and the related
livelihood protection issues. Given the frequent incidence of floods during monsoon
season the government has taken adequate measures for flood control and management
down to district level. The Pakistan Army plays a significant role in flood management

31
 by providing search and rescue services and emergency relief in affected areas. Flood
Commission commences flood fighting plans every year in April and monitors the
discharge of water at strategically important barrages and dams, and maintains a regular
interaction with all provincial governments in pre, during and post flood situations. The
district, provincial and federal governments prepare flood fighting plans annually and
ensure timely dissemination of early warning through indigenous and modern modes of
communication.

Recommendations
 A Collaboration between all concerned departments at federal, provincial and district
level.
 A connection between district, provincial, federal and international experts should be
created to provide a space for handling local issues to broader onlookers for suitable
rectifications.
 Structural measures like construction of dams, dykes, levees, channeling rivers and
unstructured measures should be adopted by the management authority.

32
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