Keeping in view the current disaster situation of Pakistan regarding floods in the country Sungi Development Foundation organized an urgent coordination meeting on July 30, 2010 to respond the emergency situation in a well coordinated way. Organizations from Khyber Pakhtoon Khwa, Punjab and AJK participated in the meeting. The representatives of the organizations based at Islamabad also ensured their participation. Following organizations were present in the meeting:  

RSPN, HDP, SPARC, KDWO, Lead Pakistan, TFIP, UNDP, Sungi Development Foundation, Shirkatgah, Doaba Foundation from Punjab, Social Aid from Balochistan and KPK, Hujra from Swat, Saibaan from Mardan, Global Peace Pioneers, ITA, Oxfam Novib, UNDP, Children First, SDS, HIN and KIDO from Mardan.

Some more NGOs from Peshawar, AJK, Mansehra and Swat also confirmed their participation but could not attend the meeting due of roads blockage, however they held the meeting with similar agenda in their respective districts and shared the information through email.

Agenda Points:

·        Discuss the current disaster situation of Pakistan and know the actual delineation of the entire scenario.

·        Plan a well coordinated humanitarian response to alleviate human suffering from floods.

Proceedings

Program Manager Disaster Management, Sungi Development Foundation, warmly welcomed participants in the meeting. The meeting was started by a short introduction session. She shared the background of establishing National Humanitarian Network that Sungi in coordination with other organizations has recently established.

Discuss the current disaster situation of Pakistan and know the actual delineation of the entire scenario

Manager- Disaster Management Program Sungi initiated the round of information sharing and asked participants to share updates regarding the actual disaster situation in their respective working areas.  

District Layyah- Punjab

Mr. Liaqat shared the information regarding the expected low level flood in Layya district. The outflow of water is 254,000 cusec and when it would reach in the area and villages at river bank it would cause a low level flood. However the influx of water in Neelum River at Chashma is 854,000 which would cause exceptional flood in Layya, Muzaffargarh, Mianwali, Ragan pur and D.I.Khan district. In Mianwali the government authorities announced the expected emergency situation and asked people of the downstream areas to evacuate. 

District Shangla

Mr. Karamat of Kamore organization from Shangla district shared that UC Karora and Norandar are the most affected union councils in Shangla. The organizations and the volunteers can’t reach to the affected area as there’s no access. Due to the landsides and flood in River the roads are completely blocked. However the organization working over there has volunteers in the area which can help in providing the actual details. The participant organization from Shangla district committed to provide more fact and figures via e-mail to the network.

SPARC Organization

The representatives from SPARC organization shared that they are already working in the areas of Mardan, Charsada, Nowshera, Peshawar, Swabi and Swat as its their operational area. SPARC can also respond the situation after having the concrete information from the mentioned districts.

Mardan, Swabi, Peshawar, Nowshera, Kohat, Hangu and and Charsada District

In Mardan and Charsadda districts the evacuation has been done safely and the people of the affected areas living with their relatives in Mardan and uphill areas in Takhbhai. Union khazana Dheri in Mardan is one of the most affected union council in Mardan. The district government, Mardan held a meeting and the authorities are in process to finalize the strategy to respond the situation. Nowshera district is totally washed away by the flood in Kabul River. Another flux of flood is expected from River Swat into the Kabul River which would cause high level flood. Peshawar motorway is blocked because of heavy flood in River Indus and Kabul. The G.T road lead to Peshawar is also closed due to this situation. Jahangira Bridge has been over flooded and the flood water is flowing over the bridge. The main bazaar is being washed away. Many Markets are completely wiped out by the flood. In Akora Khattak, Shaidu and Nowshera people are in great deed of search and rescue operations. The chief of Provincial Disaster Management Authority requested the organizations working in the province to pool in their resources to respond the situation. The high flood in Indus River has been changed into Super Flood in the River. Further Mr. Aimal Khattak, Manager Advocacy section of Sungi, added that the water storing capacity of Tarbela dam is also full and the authorities have decided to release water to ensure the safety of Dam. Thus the high level flood is expected in Swabi and the downstream areas near by Dam and the spill ways. Hattian near Kamra would also be washed away in the result of this flood.

Swat District 

The Kalam to Landa kai settlements have been wiped out completely by the flood in River Swat. Main bridges in Matta, Kabal have been flooded away and the access to Mangora, Charbagh, Khwazakhela is also terminated. Many resorts and markets have been washed away. 25 deaths are being recorded till now in Chalyaar union council. From 28^th July onward there’s no electricity and the communication is also not possible due to the destruction of communication assets like towers, etc. The people of Swat district were already facing the food security issues because of the armed conflict in the area in 2009 which has been increased in this flood situation. The fruit orchards, crops, vegetable gardens are totally being washed away by the flood. Kalam  Behrain and Madian, villages and hotle has been washed away by the flood, our office at madian has survived and our health team ae active while providing health care between the two broken bridges of madian. they have medicine for a week and some food stock for three four days and have accomodated tourist as well.all the river side hotel has been carried by the flood along with the RHC.IDEA office in Saidu Sharif is also carried away along with four vehicles and everything. , IDEA project manager Najeeb and SO Sardar are stuck in Matta, in Gwaliaray Matta hundreds of houses have been carried away by the flood.

District Mansehra:

Sungi disaster management committee members are actively involved in the response activities at local level. The volunteers have collected the information regarding the situation in their respective areas and sent the details to Sungi. The entire In Konsh, there has been no such havoc ...nevertheless, in the Siran Valley the situation is as under (a one escaped in 1992 floods). The bridge that had joined Siran and Konsh valleys near village Banda Pashutian Suchhan-Kodar Road was washed away. Opposite to village Sum, about 1/2 a furlong main road was also denuded due to which vehicle movements stopped. Apart from this land sliding has worsened the road condition elsewhere in the valley as well  ...maize crop has also got affected to an extent. As per imprecise info, 15 houses (in UC Sachan and JD) either have collapsed or water has entered into, families have been shifted to relatives/neighbours  houses and the HH belongings have damaged .There’s a high level flood in Kunhaar River and the villages on the river banks are wiped out. The road leading to Kaghan is closed due to the landslides and high level flood in Kunhar river. The tourists from the other cities of the country have been struck in the area. District Coordination Officer Mansehra instructed the local communities to cooperate with the tourists. Hundreds of dwellings destroyed in Balakot, Garlat, Garhi Habib Ullah - Reference: Sungi Office and HASHAR Association.

Muzaffarabad: Sungi’s field office at Muzaffarabad is in coordination with DMCs (Disaster Management Committees), Journalists and the SDMA. It is reported that there is high raise in water level of River Jhelum & the Neelum that has affected areas of Neelum Valley & the surroundings. While huge flow of water has arrived at Patika union council, that it is expected to affect the areas till Mangla. Administration of AJK has started shifting the families of surrounding areas of river to safe places. Till now three bridges have been broken by this river flood and affected the Mini Hydro Station, tunnel project where 200 persons were working and only 52 are found safe yet others are still missing.

In village Bani Langrail of Sena Daman union council, five families have lost their houses. While in village Chadaira of union council Charakpura one family is affected who lost their house.

In Muzaffarabad city 550 families are affected and displaced. 02 hydro Power Stations in Neelum Valley have been washed away by flood; 10 spans of high transmission electricity line at lower plate, Muzaffarabad have fully destroyed; and 01 Police station is partially damaged at Lawat, Neelum. The road between Garhi Habibullah and Muzaffarabad has been cut off due to erosion. Bridges at Kalla Kot, Surgan Nalla, Nallah Nareen & Sharda of Neelum Valley have fully destroyed. People lost their crops & trees are under water.

Allai – Battagram

In tehsil Allai of district Battagram the 08 union councils are badly affected by monsoon floods. The devastation may increase as another spell of rain is expected. Sungi’s field office in Allai has conducted an initial assessment that reports one thousand families have been displaced while 5,000 houses are at risk. Eight persons have lost their in flood belonging from village Palang, Rupkani, Laghri Khawar and Tandol. There has been huge loss to infrastructure among which 70 roads, 35 hydropower generators, 60 watermills, 40 water channels, 20 bridges, 70 DWSS have been damaged so far & the figure may increase upon possible access to all areas. 1000 acres of agriculture land and 15 shops are also damaged in the area. All main tracks to main valley are completely blocked. Almost all hydro-power stations are either washed away or stopped functioning. 600 acres of rice fields are destroyed while 100 large & 250 small animals were lost due to flood. So far no agency has provided relief to the affected community. Affected community is in shortage of food & medicines. So a quick response is required.

So far Response in this scenario

UN-OCHA is quite aggressive in sharing the information regarding the disaster situation in the different areas of Pakistan. It’s also been observed that the District Disaster Management Authorities in the affected district played positive role through placing the Early Warning System and evacuating the down stream areas. Media is also playing an imperative role in providing coverage to the disaster situation and sharing the useful information regarding floods. DDMAs in Rajan Pur and Jhang have placed a very comprehensive Early Warning System thus the lives have been saved through evacuating the areas which were most vulnerable to the flood. Coordination meetings taken place in Mardan, Swat, Mansehra and the disaster management authorities are making efforts to plan a comprehensive humanitarian response with the coordination and assistance of the humanitarian agencies. IDEA team of doctors in Behrain, Therat and Miandam are also delivering services. But the teams are cut off from each other. HDP Swabi has started distribution of ORS in the area. Initial coordination meetings have been called by Sungi in Federal capital, Muzaffarabad and Mansehra, while organizations are having their meetings in Mardan and Peshawar.

Issues Highlighted

·          Access to the area is a big issue at the moment b’coz all the communication channels have been destroyed due to floods.

·          Rescue operation needs to be expedited.

·          In Balochistan situation is worst both because of floods heavy rains and political situation.

·          In some of the areas i.e Shaidu, Akora Khattak, etc the government authorities are forcing the communities to evacuate without allocating any alternative piece of land for camp or to live in. Before the armed conflict there were school which can be effectively utilized to accommodate the people but due to the conflict most of the school buildings are damaged thus no safer place is available in this situation. There’s no proper mechanism developed or implemented for evacuation.  The affected People are evacuating their areas by themselves on foot. No vehicles allocation for evacuation. Thus the most vulnerable group of communities’ i.e Women, Children and the Elderly persons is at high risk.

·          National Disaster Management Authority is required to ensure the access to affected areas by clearing roads and restoring bridges so that humanitarian response can be made. 

·          In Swat due to non- availability of electricity tube wells are no more working which resulted in shortage of water  in the areas.

·          UN agencies are facing problems in distributing the relief goods because of less human resources so there’s a need to identify and provide human resource support to UN agencies for relief distributions.

Humanitarian Needs

The immediate needs of the flood affected people are discussed and identified during meeting. Humanitarian actions need to be taken in the following areas:

·          Search and Rescue Operations

·          Restoration of communication channels

·          Food Distributions

·          Non Food Items distributions – Kitchen Utencils, clothes etc.

·          Shelter

·          Clean drinking water

·          Mosquito nets

·          Health and Hygiene kits

·          Medical assistance

·          Vaccination to avoid malaria and dingy

After the detailed discussion the following decisions were made mutually

·          Sungi has been nominated as focal organization to take lead in facilitating the joint humanitarian response.

·          Sungi would ensure the dissemination of disaster relevant information to all the key players and stakeholders in responding the floods in Pakistan.

·          The Humanitarian Network would ensure the provision of humanitarian response within next 1 week.

·          The network would circulate the detailed disaster situation information along with the quantified and measurable required response for the situation among the relevant authorities including National Disaster Management Authority for further consideration.

·          The detailed Situation Report of the Floods situation would be circulated among all the humanitarian networks, GLAs, government Authorities, NGOs and UN-Agencies as well.

·          Naeem Iqbal from UNDP would facilitate advocacy working group of the network to organize meetings with NDMA and Coordinate with UNOCHA.

·          Syed Arif from ON will facilitate the fund raising process by sharing concept notes with PHF, UN and other funding agencies.

·          It was decided in the meeting that all the participating organizations will send their need assessments along with the required budget estimate with Sungi within 24 hours for further sharing.

·          It was also decided that all the participating organizations will send information regarding their presence in affected areas, damages, needs and requirement for response within 6 hours after the meeting.

·          The participants emphasized on the provision of an efficient and speedy humanitarian response. Participants agreed to pool in their resources for a coordinated humanitarian response. Ms. Samina Khan Executive Director, Sungi Development Foundation accentuated that we should push and assist National Disaster Management Authority to respond and manage the emergency situation in a systematic, organized and efficient way.