ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSTEMIN DISASTER RISK REDUCTION:A CASE STUDY OF PUNJAB PROVINCE IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

Disasters whether natural or human induced leave behind a trail of destruction and misery, yet they also provide learning points for disaster risk management. Natural disasters which commonly includes; earthquakes, landslides, floods, wind storms, lightening, drought, etc. and human induced disasters refer mainly to sectarian violence, wars,industrial accidents, and road accidents. In general, during all emergencies people look towards government agenciesfor immediate relief and recovery. The past events suggest that government line agencies with meagre financial resources and technical capabilities remain unable to withstand such havocs single handily. The main reason for this low performance of line agencies is the absence of coordination platform at the local levels.As per recently amended Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the local governments and disaster management have been made a provincial subject. Although, The National Disaster Management Act, 2010 has been promulgated with three hierarchical intervention levels including District Disaster Management Authorities but unfortunately, the provincial governments including Punjab have been unsuccessful to introduce a genuine local government system—capable of dealing with frequent disasters at the local government levels in the province.This paper is based on literature review and key informants surveys, and suggests policy interventions for capacity building of the localgovernment system towards disaster risk reduction.