Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq, chaired a high-level meeting of the Azad Kashmir State Disaster Management Commission at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat. The meeting was attended by senior officials including retired Colonel Waqar Ahmad Noor, Chaudhry Azhar Sadiq, Nasir Ansar Abdali, Chaudhry Amer Yasin, Advisor Sardar Ahmed Saeed, Chief Secretary Azad Kashmir Dawood Muhammad Barchi, Inspector General of Police Sahil Habib Tajik, Senior Board Member of Revenue, Principal Secretary for the Prime Minister, and other commission members. Director General of the State Disaster Management Authority Raja Tahir Mumtaz briefed the participants on the utilization of funds, duties performed during natural disasters, and other relevant details.
During the meeting, the commission approved an allocation of 69.950 million rupees from the State Disaster Management Fund for the purchase of relief items. Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwar-ul-Haq instructed to further strengthen the State Disaster Management Authority to deal effectively with natural disasters. He emphasized on providing training and refresher courses to SDMA employees to ensure their readiness at all times, enabling them to handle any sudden situations.
The Prime Minister reiterated that safeguarding the lives and property of the people is the government’s foremost responsibility. He directed the consolidation of 1122, Civil Defence, and State Disaster Management Authority into one institution to enhance its efficiency. He also ordered the conduct of vulnerability studies for Mirpur and Muzaffarabad at the first level. He suggested establishing a Task Force under the supervision of the Inspector General of Police to ensure the operational readiness of machinery present in the SDMA.
Furthermore, the Prime Minister pledged to provide additional machinery to rescue agencies to enable them to fulfill their duties efficiently during any natural calamity. He instructed that besides the establishment of a relief center in Muzaffarabad, 20% of relief supplies should also be kept in Poonch and Mirpur divisions to assist in any emergency. He emphasized on the procurement of all machinery and relief items through transparent tendering processes to ensure complete transparency.