Abstract:
August 2010 was a disastrous period for many areas of Pakistan that witnessed unprecedented monsoon rains and heaviest floods in the known history. Gilgit-Baltistan which is non-monsoon mountainous terrain received monsoon rains with resultant thunder, lightning, outburst of glacier, land sliding and over-flooding of streams. This caused severe damage to life and property including livestock, crops, trees and other sources of livelihoods. This research project aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of disaster management policies and plans of the Government citing case study of Village Qumarah of Skardu District in Gilgit-Baltistan. The research also found out the gaps in government disaster management policies and its implementation status. Methodology followed in this study was qualitative by adopting case study empirical approach based on personal observations. The Village Qumarah was selected as case study area as it suffered heavy death toll and infrastructure loss during the devastating flood in the year 2010. Three main techniques were adopted for data collection. These included (i) data and document review, (ii) semi-structured interviews with the key informants including government officials, NGO representatives, social workers and volunteers, and (iii) focus group discussions with effected community.
Findings of this research showed that Gilgit-Baltistan is a disaster prone area. Its vulnerability to natural disasters is compounded by its geography, geology, rising young mountain systems, fragile ecosystem and economic dependency. Absence of Early Warning
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System, scattered population living at high altitudes with weak communication and infrastructure multiplied its problems and vulnerability. Lack of modern equipment, infrastructure inventories, emergency response centers and contingency plans, all contributed to enhancing the impact of the disaster.
