IN what could be termed a step in the right direction, the coalition government has approved the establishment of the National Flood Response and Coordination Centre to provide an institutional response to the flood calamity.
The Centre will serve as a bridge between disaster management authorities, donors and government institutions.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a statement, said it will collect and analyze the latest information and pass it on to the relevant government agencies.
It will also oversee rescue and relief work including restoration of infrastructure. The same kind of centre with the name of National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) was established in the wake of the breakout of Covid-19.
The timely decisions taken from this platform on the basis of scientific data after inputs from federating units and other stakeholders really helped the country effectively tackle the pandemic- something which was also highly appreciated by the world community.
At a time when Pakistan is faced with an unprecedented calamity, there was once again a need to emulate Covid-19 response in order to effectively handle the current situation which is very dire and requires both short and long term measures for the relief and rehabilitation of millions of affected people.
Given the fact that at present different political parties are in government both in the Centre and the provinces, establishing such a Centre was very significant to reach consensus decisions while rising above petty political considerations.
We expect that the flood response centre will also deliver on the pattern of NCOC and live up to the expectations of the whole nation.
A collective response will also deliver a good message to the people abroad who are willing to extend helping hand to those in distress.
This centre must stay intact till the complete rehabilitation of the affected population. Every challenge comes with an opportunity and we are confident that through collective response, we will be able to build back better.
The government must move forward with a futuristic approach and focus more on building disaster resilient infrastructure in order to minimize losses in future.
