Altaf Hamid Rao.
Muzaffarabad/ MIRPUR ( AJK) (Parliament Times) : Azad Jammu and Kashmir state government Friday approved grant of Rs. 69.950 million from the State Disaster Management Funds to equip the emergent body harmoneous to the need of the modern age, official sources said.
Decision to this affect was taken in a high-level meeting of the State Disaster Management Commission held in the state metropolis with Azad Jammu Kashmir Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq in the chair, the sources told the news agency, here Friday evening.
DG State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) Raja Tahir Mumtaz briefed the meeting, in detail, of the SDMA’s budget and its performance, role and responsibilities during natural calamities.
The meeting approved a grant of Rs. 69.950 million from the State Disaster Management Fund for the purchase of relief goods.
Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq stressed the need for making the SDMA more active to deal with natural calamities. He said that training and refresher courses should be arranged for the SDMA employees so that they could be fully prepared to deal with any kind of emergency situation.
The PM said that protection of life and property of the people was the government’s first and foremost responsibility. He directed that Rescue 1122, Civil Defense and the SDMA should be merged to form a single body to further improve its performance.
The Prime Minister also directed the authorities concerned to conduct seismic study of Mirpur and Muzaffarabad. He said that a task force headed by the Inspector General of Police should be formed to prepare a plan of action to keep the SDMA machinery operational at all times.The Prime Minister said that rescue organizations would be provided with more machinery so that they can perform their duties better during any natural calamity.
Anwaar directed that the organization should ensure the availability of 20 percent of its equipment and supplies in Poonch and Mirpur divisions apart from Muzaffarabad so that it can be used in any difficulty.In order to ensure transparency, the PM said that the purchase of all machinery and relief items should be made through tendering.
The meeting was attended among others, by senior Minister Col. Retd Waqar Ahmad Noor, Chaudhry Azhar Sadiq, Nisar Ansar Abdali, Chaudhry Amir Yasin, Advisor Sardar Ahmad Sagheer, Chief Secretary Dawood Muhammad Barich, Inspector General Police Sohail Habib Tajik, and others.
