Secretary AJK, State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) and Civil Defense, Chaudhry Muhammad, has said that Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) emerged as one of the most affected areas in natural disasters in the country, where people suffered loss of lives and properties due to cloudburst and other disasters every year. 

"This year, fewer losses have been reported due to our better preparation than before," he said while addressing a capacity-building workshop that concluded here.  He emphasized that the role of all institutions, NGOs and especially the local community was imperative for instantly mitigating the disasters.

SDMA, he continued, had always encouraged the local population to carry out the response process better and more timely by deploying better and trained personnel in all districts of Azad Jammu Kashmir.  Fareed said, "Now the time has come that we have to prepare more than before because now every person, every district, every population may be more affected by disasters than before.

In such a situation, the interaction between institutions is very important, where everyone needs to work together." He thanked all the participants, including the influential institutions, World food Program, Khwaja Zaheer Memorial Foundation, Islamic Relief and University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The SDMA Secretary gave away shields for their services to the sick humanity in hours of trial following the natural disasters and congratulated them for participating in the program. 

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)