Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Director General Mujahid Sherdil has said the PDMA is responsible for immediate response to any emergency or disaster and that the authority has chalked out a plan to collect the information required to assess the vulnerability of the communities directly exposed to the risk of flooding.
DG Mujahid Sherdil was presiding over a meeting in this regard on Tuesday.
He stated that the PDMA will conduct a detailed study of thousands of settlements located in a 10-kilometer band parallel to all major rivers in the nine vulnerable districts of Punjab.
A detailed survey has been planned and all settlements have been marked on the map with the help of the Geographic Information System.
The PDMA DG added that an Android-based data entry application has been developed to help conduct the socio-economic and vulnerability assessment of the residents of different villages.
Sherdil said the District Disaster Risk Management Coordinators (DDRMCs) will be responsible for the completion of the comprehensive survey and would be assisted by the district administrations.
He added that the PDMA will mobilise its team of DDRMCs based at nine districts in Punjab to collect the data and information utilising smart phone in the villages marked by the GIS team. The DDRMCs will also be able to use the smart phones to take geo-tagged pictures of the important infrastructure in each village.
The DDRMCs will identify the important infrastructure in each village to create a database of buildings and structures that can be utilised to provide shelter or any medical aid to people displaced from other areas, he added.
Along with the information about buildings and governmental structures, the DDRMCs will also collect information on the number of people residing in the settlements, the number of people that might require extra care in case of evacuation, the number of households, disabled and elderly people and a variety of other issues such as the availability and status of schools, dispensaries, warehouses, police check posts and other facilities.
The data collected through this comprehensive survey will be superimposed on the topographical layout of the districts. The locals residing in those settlements are usually aware of the vulnerable embankments and can be a good source of information related to risky areas, he concluded.
