October 9, 2024, Wednesday
Nepal 1:37:26 pm

Experts from Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan discuss rising risks in mountains

The Nepal Weekly
September 17, 2024

Professionals from key disaster management agencies from Bhutan and Nepal gathered in Islamabad this week to learn pioneering disaster risk reduction strategies from counterparts in Pakistan.

Senior experts from Nepal and Bhutan visited Pakistan’s state-of-the-art National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC), the country’s Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) and the Global Climate Change Impact Studies Centre (GCISC), according to a press release issued by ICIMOD.  

The visit, jointly organized by Nepal-headquartered International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was aimed at providing countries with hands-on exposure to cutting-edge technologies and approaches used by NDMA Pakistan for proactive disaster risk reduction and management, and to increase the region’s capacities to manage disasters.

“The 2022 floods were a turning point for Pakistan’s disaster strategy, highlighting the need for a centralized, coordinated response,” said Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik, chairman of NDMA, briefing delegates on the country’s ‘360-degree’ disaster management mechanism which addresses disaster assessments, response, recovery, and rehabilitation.

Malik expressed interest in not just sharing Pakistan’s experiences and resources with neighbouring countries, but also in the potential for Pakistan to learn Nepal and Bhutan, for instance on management of climate-induced tourism risks. 

He outlined several potential areas for ongoing collaboration including:  

– forming technical working groups to address mountain-specific disasters;

– building an inventory of critical disaster equipment that might be shared across borders in the events of major events;

– capacity-building in search and rescue, building on Pakistan’s urban search and rescue teams and leveraging Nepal’s participation in the upcoming International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) Asia Pacific Earthquake Response exercise in Lahore.

“Nepal and Pakistan have experienced large-scale seismic and climate-induced disasters in recent years,” said Anil Pokhrel, chief executive of Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority. “Jointly we can further simulations for glacial lake outburst floods, a common climate change threat faced by both countries, while charting areas for collaboration on disaster risk reduction management.”

“This initiative exemplifies the importance of regional cooperation, and we look forward to applying knowledge gained here to strengthen disaster management efforts in our respective countries,” said Sonam Tshewang, Executive Engineer, Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Division, Ministry of Home Affairs, Bhutan.  

The visit comes after another deadly monsoon in South Asia: with the serious disasters hitting Nepal including mudslides, waterlogging, glacial lake outbursts and damaged infrastructure. Nepal’s monsoon preparedness plan estimated close to 400,000 households would be affected. Bhutan’s capital of Thimpu, meanwhile, faced unexpected landslides and floods.

A joint Simulation Exercise (SimEx), led by NDMA, focused on Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) scenarios, including the Badswat GLOF in Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan, and the Imja Glacier in Khumjung, Nepal. Delegates from Nepal, Bhutan, and Pakistan actively participated in interactive discussions, sharing best practices from their respective disaster management strategies in response to the simulated scenarios.

The visit concluded with a policy-action dialogue on future strategies to address climate-induced disasters in Pakistan jointly organized by ICIMOD, the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC&EC) and Environmental Coordination and the Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change (CSCCC).

The event, organized from 11-13 September, was opened jointly by Aisha Khan, senior advisor to ICIMOD and Pema Gyamtsho, Director General of ICIMOD.