Disaster Management in Pakistan: A Case Study of the Role and Effectiveness of NDMA for the period 2010 – 2020
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Date
2021
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UMT, Lahore
Abstract
Pakistan is a disaster-prone country and has endured catastrophic natural and man-made disasters in the past. The drastic impact of these disasters and lack of facilities and policies shows the incompetence of government authorities. Pakistan has multiple geography with glaciers covered with northern alpines and Arabian Sea bordering the southern plains. With five big rivers from North to South namely Chenab, Ravi, Jhelum, Indus and Sutlej. There is a marked monsoon area from July to mid-September in which there are huge number of rainfalls, due to which flooding is very common. Pakistan has faced major floods in 1950, 1956, 1957, 1973, 1976, 1978, 1988, 1992, 2010 and the list continues. National Disaster Management Ordinance 2010 states: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will be the focal point for coordinating and facilitating the implementation of strategies and programs on disaster risk reduction, response and recovery. This research aims to highlight the challenges faced by NDMA in carrying out their duties effectively and the factors affecting their performance at various levels. This also undermines the spirit of constitution of Pakistan that guarantees right to equal provision of facilities to all citizens of the state as not everyone is given the same treatment; rich people have an easier access to facilities as compared to the poor sector of our society. In order to better highlight the concerns this research has employed qualitative research method and case study research design. Interviews were conducted with NDMA officials and also the public especially flood victims in order to study the role and working of NDMA and sampling was done using purposive sampling technique. This research has also employed a theoretical framework based on ‘collectivist theory’ to better understand the disaster management behavior in Pakistan. Moreover this research studies the structure of NDMA to better understand the underlying issues in its performance and root causes. Three common themes have been identified; Services, legal framework and organizational structure. The results show that inadequate and substandard health facilities result in poor disaster management and disaster preparedness situation. NDMA’s inefficiency also emerges from ambiguous power structure and authority. It is also derived from the results that NDMA is too underfunded and under resourced to meet the needs of disaster preparedness and post disaster rehabilitation.