Disaster Preparedness for Natural Hazards: Current Status in Pakistan

Khan, Mohiuddin Ali

doi:10.53055/icimod.462

Cited by 18 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Numerous humanitarian bodies have aided in developing disaster risk management programs at the local level. However, these are limited to a few high-risk areas (Khan, 2007). This is worrisome since Pakistan stands seventh among the world's most susceptible countries based on the climate risk index (CRI) (Kreft et al, 2016).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying obstacles encountered at different stages of the disaster management cycle (DMC) and its implications for rural flooding in Pakistan

Shah

Ullah

Khan

et al. 2023

Front. Environ. Sci.

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The world has seen a number of natural hazards, but among them, floods are perhaps the most frequent devastating natural hazard, resulting in more human causalities and financial losses. Rural inundation has become an issue of concern in various parts of the world, including Pakistan. Over the past few decades, it has been hard for local institutions and rural populations to recover from the trauma inflicted by these events. The disaster risk management cycle is a well-known tool for coping with disasters and their consequences. Yet, the DRM cycle efficacy has been questioned in various rural settings. Thus, this paper applied a programmatic strategy to understand the challenges disaster management authorities and communities face in managing flood risks through the conventional disaster management cycle in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. The study objective was accomplished by using both qualitative and exploratory research designs. Four communities (namely, Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, and Dera Ismail Khan) with a historical record of flooding were chosen for focus group discussion (32 in total) using a purposive sampling method. Additionally, 31 key informant interviews were undertaken from pertinent local disaster risk management institutions. We employed a thematic analysis to classify responses and obstacles into the various stages of the disaster management cycle. The findings of this study from interviews and focus groups provided some new insight into the conventional DRM cycle. The issues and challenges encountered by institutions and the community members were divided into four stages: 1-mitigation, 2-preparedness, 3-rescue and relief (R&R), and 4-rehabilitation and recovery (R&R). Based on the findings, it seems that local disaster management institutions still rely on reactive strategies and deal with flood hazards on an ad hoc basis. Poor governance and a lack of responses for present development trajectories were also highlighted as reasons why flood risk management is still challenging. There is an urgent need to perform susceptibility and risk assessments for multiple hazards and develop specialized plans that follow disaster risk reduction principles and adaptation to climate change. This study recommends incorporating resilience and adaptation to climate change into the current disaster management cycle to prevent or reduce future hazards and risks in rural areas.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying obstacles encountered at different stages of the disaster management cycle (DMC) and its implications for rural flooding in Pakistan

Shah

Ullah

Khan

et al. 2023

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…It takes preventive, preparatory, and planning actions into account. By using proper land-use plans or structural strategies, dykes, retaining basins, and dams are preventive attempts to avert hazards such as floods [144][145][146]. Precaution aims to reduce harm via a combination of individual and public actions occasionally enacted through laws or regulations.…”

Section: Risk Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of Spatial Variations of Multiple Natural Hazards and Risk Management Strategies in Pakistan

Hussain

Zhang

Moawwez

et al. 2023

Water

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Natural hazards are dynamic and unpredictable events that are a continuous threat to global socio-economic development. Humans’ reactions to these catastrophes are influenced by their proximity to the hazards and their ability to anticipate, resist, cope with, and recover from their consequences. Due to climatic changes, the risk of multiple natural hazards is expected to increase in several regions of Pakistan. There is a pressing need to understand the spatial discrepancies of natural hazards due to climate change and identifying the regions that require special measures to increase resilience, achieve adaptation, and sustainable development goals. This paper synthesizes the related literature to understand spatial variations of natural hazards due to climate changes across Pakistan. The Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT), National Aeronautics and Space Administration Global Landslide Catalog (NASA-GLC), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), and Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) are utilized to analyze spatial discrepancies and vulnerabilities to natural hazards. This study unveils that Pakistan’s current risk analysis and management strategies seem to be obsolete compared to global trends. Because of spatial variations of hazards, most research work on hazard risk assessments and risk management focuses on a single hazard, neglecting the co-occurrence impact of different natural hazards. Very limited studies are included in comprehensive multi-hazard risk strategies. Therefore, in Pakistan, risk management would require integrated multi-hazard risk assessment approaches to detect, analyze, measure, and evaluate various natural hazards, their effects, and interconnections. Moreover, the Pakistan governmental institutes dealing with natural hazards should focus on pre-disaster mitigation and resilience techniques instead of investing only in post-disaster relief activities.

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“…Designing a proactive emergency plan is crucial in establishing priorities, tactical decision-making and coordinated operational action (Gilissen et al , 2016). Unfortunately, Pakistan had almost no emergency preparedness (Khan and Khan, 2008). Diverse responsibilities are chaotically scattered across several different institutions that responded on an ad-hoc basis, with no central agency taking complete charge of disaster mitigation procedures at various levels (Cheema et al , 2016; Cochrane, 2008).…”

Section: Disaster Management In Pakistanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Collation of best practices for preparedness: lessons from disasters in Pakistan and Japan

Schwarz

Kascel

Azmat

et al. 2023

JHLSCM

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Purpose This study aims to compare the humanitarian supply chains and logistics of two countries in earthquake preparedness by modifying and using a previously established preparedness evaluation framework. Design/methodology/approach A European flood emergency management system (FEMS) is a seven-dimensional framework to assess a country’s preparedness for flood emergencies. The FEMS framework was modified to apply to earthquakes. Leveraging a multiple explanatory case study approach with data analysis, the authors reconstructed the events of the earthquakes in Pakistan (2005) and Japan (2011) with an applied grading (1–5). Findings were evaluated within the adopted FEMS framework. From a practitioner’s perspective, the framework is applicable and can accelerate support in the field. Findings Pakistan lacked emergency plans before the 2005 earthquake. In contrast, Japan possessed emergency plans before the disaster, helping minimise casualties. Overall, Japan demonstrated considerably better emergency management effectiveness. However, both countries significantly lacked the distribution of responsibilities among actors. Originality/value Practical factors in the humanitarian supply chain are well understood. However, synthesising individual factors into a comprehensive framework is difficult, which the study solves by applying and adopting the FEMS framework to earthquakes. The developed framework allows practitioners a structured baseline for prioritising measures in the field. Furthermore, this study exemplifies the usefulness of cross-hazard research within emergency management and preparedness in a real-world scenario.

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Disaster Preparedness for Natural Hazards: Current Status in Pakistan

Abstract: About the Organisations International Centre for Integrated Mountain DevelopmentThe International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is an independent 'Mountain Learning and Knowledge Centre' serving the eight countries of the

Cited by 18 publications

References 0 publications

Identifying obstacles encountered at different stages of the disaster management cycle (DMC) and its implications for rural flooding in Pakistan

Identifying obstacles encountered at different stages of the disaster management cycle (DMC) and its implications for rural flooding in Pakistan

A Review of Spatial Variations of Multiple Natural Hazards and Risk Management Strategies in Pakistan

Collation of best practices for preparedness: lessons from disasters in Pakistan and Japan

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