Islamabad – 11 September 2024 – Professionals from key disaster management agencies from Bhutan and Nepal are 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).

The visit, jointly organized by Nepal-headquartered International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) aims to provide 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. “Exchanges such as this help us learn from NDMA Pakistan’s transformation in disaster response, including in its state-of-the-art national emergency operations. 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.”

Arun B Shrestha, who leads ICIMOD’s Climate and Environmental Risks work, said the exchange visit would help participating countries cope with future disasters, and stressed the importance of strenghening regional cooperation on DRR. “ICIMOD’s goal is to foster knowledge-sharing and create a strong network of disaster management professionals across the region, as the challenges we face are shared, and so must be our solutions,” he said.

“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, which runs from 11-13 September, was opened by Aisha Khan, CEO, CSCCC and senior advisor to ICIMOD; Pema Gyamtsho, Director General of ICIMOD; and Romina Khurshid Alam, coordinator to the Prime Minister on Climate Change for (MoCC&EC).

Background

The Hindu Kush Himalayan region is highly vulnerable to disasters such as earthquakes, floods, landslides, and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). Countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Pakistan have developed disaster management systems to address these challenges, with each country adopting unique structures and approaches. Bhutan’s Disaster Management Act of 2013 mandates contingency planning across sectors, while Nepal’s NDRRMA oversees a comprehensive disaster risk reduction framework. Pakistan, operating through a three-tiered system, has established a robust network for disaster management, though district-level implementation remains a challenge. Despite these advances, there is a critical need for enhanced cross-border collaboration to strengthen resilience in the region.

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is facilitating an exchange program among disaster management agencies from these countries to promote knowledge sharing and regional cooperation. The inaugural exchange visit will take place at Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) from 09-11 September 2024, where disaster management professionals will engage in discussions on Pakistan’s best practices in disaster risk reduction and participate in a simulation exercise focused on GLOFs. The exchange aims to build institutional capacity, foster collaboration, and create a network of professionals to address shared vulnerabilities in the Himalayan region.

Key Outcomes Expected

• Strengthened cross-border cooperation in disaster risk reduction.
• Exchange of knowledge and technologies for enhanced disaster resilience.
• Establishment of a regional network for continuous support and collaboration.

ICIMOD’s latest scientific assessment report shows that climate is making focus on disaster readiness in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region increasingly urgent, with temperature rise a key driver in many recent water- and cryosphere-related disasters running from increased meltwater, larger and more potentially dangerous lakes, unstable slopes from thawing permafrost, and increasing sediment loads in rivers.

The rise in the size and number of glacial lakes as glaciers continue to retreat will create new hotspots of potentially dangerous glacial lakes, the report continues, with implications for glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) hazards and risk.

Large avalanches of rock and/or ice meanwhile are expected to increase in frequency and magnitude triggered by deglaciation and/or degrading permafrost and often unusually warm/wet conditions – all of which are projected to become increasingly prevalent and relevant over the coming decades.

As hydropower and road infrastructure are increasingly being constructed in the upstream areas of watersheds, meanwhile, the risk of exposure to mass flow events is increasing.

Share