Pakistan has experienced devastating floods recently. In the wake of the disaster, researches, analysts, policy makers and general populace have tried to understand the causes of the unprecedented deluge. Some have blamed climate change, others have pointed fingers at the state of poor governance in the country and still others have tried to focus on the weak disaster risk reduction (DRR) and disaster management system of Pakistan.
It can be stated without an iota of doubt that all these factors have played their part in the making of the calamity. Since these culprit factors have been identified, various solutions are also on the table to tame future disasters into submission. Mitigation and adaptation to climate change, effective governance and efficient and proactive disaster management system are top-notch solutions which are being proposed.
In terms of reforming DRR and disaster management; however, one area of utmost importance is being ignored in Pakistan. There is no discussion on educating our people and future generations for disaster management. Education, awareness and training of people for disaster management is an essential component of modern DRR framework. In traditional societies like Pakistan, it gains further significance because ‘disaster orthodoxy’ is rampant here. Orthodox approach believes in the naturalness of disasters meaning that they cannot be prevented but only dealt with rescue and relief whenever they visit humanity. Such mindset barely recognizes anthropogenic involvement in construction of natural hazards into disasters.
This behavior renders all prevention and mitigation efforts useless because people pay no heed to the directions of the disaster management authorities. It becomes impossible for disaster management authorities to even rescue people in such circumstances. A recent instance of a brave stick-wielding female civil servant urging people to evacuate their homes in the inundated area is a case in point.
This is a serious limitation of the DRR effort in Pakistan. Hence, there is a need to search for answers that how communities can be made part of the disaster mitigation efforts. Some solutions are already available and we just have to implement them in letter and spirit.
National Disaster Management Act 2010 mandates Disaster Management Authorities (DMA’s) at all levels including national, provincial and district to “promote and facilitate” education, awareness and training of local communitiesin disaster management. They are required to coordinate with local governments to organize such seminars and training workshops. Sadly, this is not considered a worth-doing exercise. Therefore, there is a need to revive and properly implement this framework provided by the NDMA Act.
Similarly, in order to sensitize and prepare future generations in disaster management, a separate subject on DRR can be introduced in school curriculum of the country. This subject can be introduced at the matric level and onwards. Teaching our future generations on the difference between natural hazards, disasters and the role of vulnerabilities in multiplication of disaster impact will go a long way to mitigate future disasters in the country.
Notwithstanding, the role of NGOs in disaster risk awareness and education in a country cannot be emphasized enough. Currently, almost all NGOs working for the disasters are only involved in humanitarian relief efforts. They play their active role whenever the disaster happens. The NGOs in the country are required to adopt a proactive approach to disaster management by spreading disaster awareness and education so that we can successfully mitigate, prevent and manage disasters in the offing.
The writer is a lecturer in Higher Education Department Punjab.