Altaf Hamid Rao
Mirpur-AJK Hosted Grand ceremony to mark the day with fabolous zest;
MIRPUR (AJK) ( Parliament Times): Like rest of the world, International Civil Defense Day was also observed in Azad Jammu Kashmir on Friday with the renewal of the pledge to frustrate every threat of the enemy to the frontiers of the motherland shoulder to shoulder the valiant armed forces of Pakistan besides in case of any of other emergent situation both in peace and war times as and when required.
Our Special Jammu and Kashmir Correspondent Altaf Hamid Rao reported from Mirpur that special ceremonies were held to mark the day in all 10 districts of AJK including capital city of Muzaffarabad as well as Mirpur, Kotli, Bhimbher, Rawalakot and other stations under the auspices of the AJK Civil Defense Department to observe the day. In Mirpur, major ceremony to observe the day was held under the auspices of the local Civil Defense Department with the coordination of the District Administration.
‘The commemoration of the International Civil Defense Day every year renews the entry into force of the ICDI – International Civil Defense Organization’s constitution as an inter-governmental organization in 1972 with two major objectives of serving for the safety and security of the masses both in peace and war times in case of any eventuality – besides other nation-building institutions’, said speakers while addressing the ceremony held here on Friday to mark the day.
Besides the civil defense volunteers, the volunteers of popular 1122 rescue service, workers of PWD, Highways, Electricity, Information, Health and Education departments as well as the school’s students presented practical demonstration of civil defense on this occasion besides holding walks to mark the day.
Addressing the ceremony hosted here Friday to mark the civil Defence day tspeakers including Deputy Commissioner and Chief Controllar Civil Defence Mirpur District Yasir Riaz Chsudhry, City Mayor Usman Ali Khalid Chaudhry, Senior Superintendent Police Kamran Ali, District Council Chairman Naveed Akhter Goga, Sheir Baz Muneer Chaudhry Advocate, Director General Civil Defence Ch. Abdul Rehman, President Mirpur-AJK Chamber of Commerce and Industry Syed Sabir Hussain Shah, Civil Defense experts and others said that the world civil defense day was being observed across the globe line with the charter of the United Nations aimed at to raise awareness among the masses to deal with any eventuality in case of any emergent situation.
Describing the world civil defense day as the day of renewal of pledge to strengthen the civil defense harmonious to the need of the modern age for the sake of serving the country whenever required to meet any emergency, Deputy Commissioner Yasir Riaz Ch. said that in view of the importance of the civil defense, the government was taking effective steps to raise awareness among various classes of the civil society including students for getting the civil defense training so that they could also extend their due share for serving the country whenever required, they added.
Recalling the horrific memories of the devastating October 8th, 2005 killer earthquake in Northern parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and adjoining KPK province and September 24, 2019 deadly earthquake in Mirpur Azad Kashmir, the speakers said had there been sufficient civil defense arrangements for rescue, there would have been lesser loss of men and material due to the history’s worst natural catastrophes.
They said that this tragedy had highlighted the significance of the role of the civil defense to deal with any emergent situation.
