Director General (DG) Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Punjab Mudassar Waheed Malik has said that PDMA Punjab is in close contact with Meteorological Department to obtain latest information regarding weather situation on daily basis. He said that 10 meetings of Cabinet Committee on Floods have been conducted so far to ensure preparedness in the wake of possible floods during Monsoon season this year and PDMA Punjab is ready tocope with monsoon rains and possible floods. He said in order to deal any untoward situation like floods, PDMA Punjab has distributed 764 boats, 764 OBMs, 11000 life jackets, 4000 life rings, 13000 dewatering sets, 48000 tents, 49000 plastic mats, 43000 mosquito nets and last but not the least 30 generator sets in flood prone districts of the province. He further said that all the District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs) are conducting meetings on regular basis. He said that PDMA Punjab in collaboration with different district administrations have also conducted mock exercises to ensure preparedness in the wake of possible floods. “The idea was to check whether they could handle expected flood threats and handle rescue operations”, he added. He said that Fire Audit and Mock Exercise has also been conducted at Muzaffargarh Warehouse of PDMA as a preparedness activity to cater any unpleasant situation arising out of fire. He said the employees of Muzaffargarh Warehouse are being trained in order to avoid any loss of lives and properties during the upcoming flood season. He said that such exercises can help improve the capacity of the departments who have to deal with emergency situations. He said that Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has also reviewed the pre-flood arrangements by the PDMA Punjab and has expressed satisfaction over them.
