Strengthening Tsunami Early Warning System in Pakistan 248-PAK Progress Report. January - December UNESCO Islamabad

Transcription

1 Strengthening Tsunami Early Warning System in Pakistan 248-PAK-2000 Progress Report January - December 2009 UNESCO Islamabad

2

3 Contribution Information 1. UNESCO progress report no: TEWS Assisted country: Pakistan 3. Project: Strengthening Tsunami Early Warning System in Pakistan 4. Donor references: UNESCO-IOC 5. Budget codes: 248-PAK-2000 (UNESCO) 6. Total contribution: USD 600, UNDP: USD 203, UNESCO: USD 398, UNESCO IOC (In-kind): USD 108, Programmable amount: USD 369, (UNESCO component excluding support cost) 8. Duration of contribution: Nov 2008 March Period covered by this report: January- December Date of preparation: February 2010

4

5 Table of Contents Acronyms Executive Summary i ii A. Project Background 1 B. Project Objectives 1 C. Project Achievements 2 - Programme Area 1: Establish and strengthen institutional arrangements for coastal hazards in Pakistan. 2 - Programme Area 2: Develop tsunami and sea-level related hazard Early Warning System. 2 - Programme Area 3: Initiate pilot community and local level risk reduction arrangements. 6 D. Activities for Next Quarter 6 E. Financial Status 7 Annexure: In CDROM Annexure I: Annexure II: Annexure III: Annexure IV: Annexure V: Annexure VI: Annexure VII: Annexure VIII: Annexure IX: Annexure X: Capacity Assessment Study Media Training Workshop Tsunami Simulation and Inundation modelling workshop Fellowship Training Reports Site Mission Reports 1 st SOP Workshop Report 2 nd SOP Workshop Report 3 rd SOP Workshop Report Statement of Income and Expenditure Photos of project activities

6 Acronyms DDMA GFZ IOTWS ISDR NDMA NIO PDMA PMD UNDP UNESCO UNESCO-IOC District Disaster Management Authority GeoForschungsZentrum Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System International Strategy for Disaster Reduction National Disaster Management Authority National Institute of Oceanography Provincial Disaster Management Authority Pakistan Metrological Department United Nations Development Programme United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO i

7 Executive Summary 1. Following the 2004 tsunami, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (UNESCO-IOC) led immediate efforts to establish an Indian Ocean Tsunami Early Warning System. As part of this campaign for establishment of tsunami early warning systems, UNESCO-IOC initiated the project Strengthening Tsunami Early Warning System in Pakistan. The overall objective of the project is to assist the Government of Pakistan in strengthening its national tsunami and other ocean-related hazards warning system, as well as the associated preparedness for disaster risks of the most vulnerable coastal areas of Pakistan. 2. The following progress was made during the reporting period: a. A study report is prepared to access roles, capacities and institutional arrangements of different agencies involved in disaster risk preparedness and response in the coastal areas. b. Strengthened the National Tsunami Early Warning Centers in Karachi and Islamabad through technical assistance for earthquake detection and Tsunami decision support systems, capacities for tsunami simulation and inundation modelling. Installation of tide gauges at Gwadar, Ormara, Karachi and Ketti Bunder are at different stages. One tide gauge is handed over to the Pakistan Navy-Hydrography Department for Jinnah Naval Base-Ormara whereas tide gauges for Gwadar and Ketti Bunder will be provided in the next quarter. A tailor-made container for tide gauge installation at Gwadar is provided to the Gwadar Port Authority. This tide gauge network will provide real time data on sea level changes and can be used for monitoring of other sea hazards and sea level changes. c. PMD staff capacity is being strengthened through various staff training and development interventions. One senior staff attended International Training Course on Seismology and Seismic Hazard Assessment. Two staff members attended numerical modelling course. Likewise, staff members at Karachi and Islamabad Tsunami Centres were trained on SeisComp3 and GUITAR softwares as well as on tsunami simulation and inundation modelling. d. Recognizing the role of media in tsunami early warning chain, media professionals were trained in reporting the early warning. e. Tsunami early warning system Standard Operating Procedures (SoP) is ready in draft form. To develop the SOP, three 5-day national level workshops were organized as part of the UNESCO-IOC s regional initiative. f. Production of digital version of Tsunami Teacher Kit-An Information and Resource Kit in Urdu is progressing and will be completed in early g. Establishment of media studio is in progress. 3. The cumulative implementation rate is 42% of the total budget made available to UNESCO. 4. Project faced delays resulting from short supply of suitable technical experts and deteriorating security situation. Project was extended up to 31 March 2010 to complete the remaining work. ii

8 iii

9 A. Project Background UNESCO began coordinating the establishment of Tsunami Warning Systems globally after the devastating tsunami of December 26, 2004, based on its successful experience of operating the Pacific Tsunami Warning System for more than 40 years and mandate given by UN General Assembly. Pakistan s coastal zone is at risk from a tsunami generated by earthquakes in the near-by Makran subduction zone. Gwadar, the new port city, and Karachi, the commercial hub of the country, are most vulnerable to coastal inundation, and in the event of a tsunami, large segments of the population and economic infrastructure will suffer serious losses. It is imperative to develop a sophisticated and responsive early warning system for protection of human lives and financial assets. In Pakistan, warning systems lack the basic capacities of equipment, skills, and resources. The establishment of Tsunami Early Warning System in Pakistan will serve as a countrybased early warning and response system. Such a system is needed not only for the protection of citizens and national assets but also provides the building blocks of the global early warnings system. The project was scheduled to complete in December 2009 and was extended until 31 March 2010 to facilitate completion of the remaining activities. B. Project Objectives The overall objective of the project is to assist the Government of Pakistan in strengthening its national tsunami and other ocean-related hazards warning system, as well as the associated preparedness for disaster risks of the most vulnerable coastal areas of Pakistan. Specific areas of intervention are as follows: 1. Establish and strengthen institutional arrangements for coastal hazards in Pakistan. 2. Develop tsunami and sea-level related hazard Early Warning System. 3. Initiate pilot community and local level risk reduction arrangements. The UNDP is the main implementing agency for the pilot community and local level risk reduction arrangements. 1

10 C. Project Achievements Progress in the programme areas: Programme Area 1: Establish and strengthen institutional arrangements for coastal hazards in Pakistan. Accomplishments towards the Work Plan Target Outputs Output 1.1: Documentation of existing capacity and institutional arrangement of different agencies involved in disaster risk preparedness and response in the coastal areas by February Assessment of capacities, gaps and opportunities of institutions involved in disaster risk preparedness and response for coastal areas is completed in September The report: Capacity Assessment Study- An assessment of capacities, gaps and opportunities of Institutions involved in disaster risk preparedness and response in the coastal areas (See Annexure I) was shared with stakeholders for comments including National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Pakistan Metrological Department (PMD), National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) and Pakistan Navy- Hydrography department. The comments of the stakeholders were sought and amendments to study were made accordingly. Key Informant Interviews and document review were used as the study tools. The institutions involved in the exercise are NDMA, PMD, NIO, Pakistan Navy-Hydrography Department, and Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Sindh. Other institutions namely Gwadar Port Authority, Karachi Port Trust (KPT), Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (MSA) and Pakistan Red Crescent Society were also covered in the exercise because of their functions which support Tsunami early warning system. The final report will presented to stakeholders in a consultation workshop in February Output 1.2: Terms of reference in place and Technical Committee on tsunami, cyclone and ocean related hazards and the Committee is formed by March 09. Terms of reference for the Technical Committee are developed and shared with NDMA in Nov 2009 for comments. NDMA will notify the committee once ToRs will be duly approved. Programme Area 2: Develop tsunami and sea-level related hazard Early Warning System. Accomplishments towards the Work Plan Target Outputs Output 2.1: Equipment/training for Tsunami Early Warning System and other coastal hazards in place by March 09. In the first quarter of 2009, the capacities of National Tsunmai Warning Centers of Karachi and Islamabad for technical analysis and assesmment for tsunami were strengthened by providing required equipments, analysis softwares and technical trainings. Two 4-screen computer systems including the installation of specialized 2

11 software programme SeisComp3 1 (which determines the location and the magnitude of an earthquake) were provided at tsunami warning centres in Karachi and Islamabad. This support is part of UNESCO-IOC contribution in kind. A Tsunami Decision support system software GUITAR was installed and fifteen PMD staff were trained in GUITAR and SeisComp3 by experts from GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ) Germany in August Currently both systems are integrated and are fully functional at both Karachi and Islamabad Centres. PMD staff has developed the capacity to locate the epicentre of earthquake, calculate earthquake magnitude and arrival time of tsunami to Pakistani coasts. PMD can now identify, analyze any tsunami threat to the country within 5~7 minutes and disseminate early warning to the relevant stakeholders immediately. End-to-End Tsunami warning system involves a number of stakeholders who must be able to work in coordination and with good understanding of each other. As one of the critical stakeholders, media plays a critical role, not only in dissemination of early warning but in preparedness and educational aspects of risk management. In order to make the media professionals knowledgeable about the National Tsunami Early Warning System, roles of various stakeholders and institutions in early warning dissemination and lesson learnt from international experiences, a Training Workshop on Tsunami Warning Training Workshop for Media on Tsunami Warning Dissemination Dissemination through Media was organized from 5 to 6 October 2009 in collaboration with PMD (See Annexure II for workshop report). The workshop was attended by 30 participants (including 3 female participants) and experts from the national and international institutions. Participants from print media were from Daily Times, Daily Nawa-i-Waqt, Daily Dawn, Daily Ibrat, Daily Kawish, Associated Press of Pakistan whereas electronic media was represented by PTV, Geo TV, Indus TV, KTN TV, Aaj TV, ARY News, Metro One TV, News One TV, FM-101 (radio station) and Radio Pakistan. The workshop also provided an opportunity for PMD managers to develop their professional relationship with the media people. To enhance the tsunami modelling and risk analysis capacity a training workshop on Tsunami Simulation and Inundation Modelling was organized in collaboration with PMD from 7 to 11 December 2009 (See Annexure III). The 5 days workshop was attended by 26 participants (including 2 female participants) representing different but related disciplines, e.g. Meteorology, Information Technologies, Geophysics, Geology, Seismology, Civil Engineering, Geography. The Tsunami Simulation and Inundation Workshop 1 SeisComP3 is a specialized software programme developed by scientists at the GFZ which, within minutes, determines the location and the magnitude of an earthquake. In this way several strong earthquakes and their individual parameters could be determined within two minutes. 3

12 diversity of the expertise among participants facilitated discussions on different aspects of tsunamis. Four resources persons, including two females, were brought in from University of Hamburg Germany, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research Germany and Middle East Technical University Turkey for the workshop. One Fellowship was awarded to PMD s Deputy Director Mr. Ameer Hyder to attend International Training Course on Seismology and Seismic Hazard Assessment at GeoForschungsZentrum Postdam, Germany from September 21 till 23 October 2009 (See Annexure IV for report). This training has further strengthened PMD s work in seismology, the precise analysis of earthquake locations and earthquake magnitudes, micro-zonation, and the calculation and interpretation of the regional earthquake hazard and risk. In addition, two fellowships were awarded to PMD staff members Mr. Zahid Rafi (Director Seismic) and Mr. Nasir Mehmood to attend International Training on Tsunami Inundation Modeling at Petaling Jaya, Malaysia from October The participants of the training from PMD initiated inundation modeling efforts and produced a policy report for DG PMD on Tsunami inundation in costal areas of Pakistan. Site assessment missions to install new tide gauges (GLOSS standard) for Gwadar, Ormara and Ketti Bandar were completed (Site inspection reports for Gwadar and Ormara are attached as Annexure V) in August In September 2009, Ormara Tide gauge was handed over to the implementing partner Pakistan Navy. Approval for installation of tide gauge at Ketti Bandar is granted by Pakistan Navy. Pakistan Navy is constructing a new jetty at Ketti Bunder which will be activated by the end of 2010, by then Tide gauge will be installed on temporarily built Proposed Gwadar Tide Gauge Site platform. After the completion of new jetty tide gauge will be transferred to its proposed location on permanent basis. Order for supply of two tide gauges (for Gwadar and Ketti Bandar) has been placed to OTT Hydrometry Ltd., UK. These tide gauges will be provided to Pak Navy for installation by early March A 20 feet container ordered to house tide gauge at Gwadar Port was delivered on 25 Dec 2009 to Gwadar Port Authority. The container was tailored for the purpose. An inspection of the container before the delivery by Gwadar Port Authority was carried out and corrections were made in the work done by the supplier. Tide gauge installation was delayed because of the lack of installation facility (covered room or hut) at site and a container was arranged. Output 2.2: Development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for tsunami and hazards related to sea-level and EWS procedure for Federal, Provincial and District and UC level actors, including civil society organisations by March Electronic version of the report not received at the time of finalizing the report, hence not attached. 4

13 Three national level workshops were successfully organized for the Development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for end-to-end Tsunami Early Warning System. These workshops enabled National Early Warning Centre to develop SOPs for tsunami warning and coordination mechanism with other stakeholders. First 5-Day workshop was held in Karachi from 9 to 12 February 2009 in collaboration with PMD (see Annexure VI for report) and attended by 25 participants, including 3 Women. Second national workshop was held in Islamabad from 4-8 May 2009 in collaboration with NDMA (see Annexure VII for report) and attended by 28 participants, including 2 women. As a follow-up of 1 st First SOP Workshop Participants workshop, PMD and NDMA developed their draft SOPs for tsunami and other costal hazards, which were refined and tested during the final workshop. The final workshop was organized from 23 to in Karachi in collaboration with PMD (See Annexure VIII for report). The workshop was attended by 27 participants from PakistanPMD), response agencies including National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Red Crescent (Sindh) and academia including University of Karachi, NED University. This activity is part of UNESCO-IOC regional project Second SOP Workshop Participants supported by ESCAP. Output 2.3: Media studio at PMD is established and functional, and establishment of communication arrangement for warning announcements/ dissemination by April 09. Project is recruiting a media studio expert to carry out equipment needs assessment and development of equipment specifications and associated costs for establishment of PMD media studio. In addition, human resource requirement, training needs, sustainability strategy and linkage strategy with various TV Channels will be recommended by the expert. This report will feed in to the Request for Proposal for studio equipment. The activity got delayed because even on advertising the position the project was not able to find appropriate national candidate and due to security situation international consultants were not interested. 5

14 Programme Area 3: Initiate pilot community and local level risk reduction arrangements. Accomplishments towards the Work Plan Target Outputs Output 3.1: Translation and production of educative and outreach material including correct interpretations on tsunamis and coastal hazards by July 09. Urdu translation of the Tsunami Teacher Kit-An Information and Resource Kit is completed. Final translated draft is undergoing changes and correction of minor typos. This translated material will be sent to UNESCO-IOC in January to produce digital version of Tsunami Teacher Kit in Urdu language. Key issues and challenges faced: A major challenge faced by the project is deteriorating security situation. During the reporting period Pakistan was declared as Phase III country, with some parts of NWFP and Balochistan Provinces declared as Phase IV. This hampered the delivery of the project as office staff had to work from home on rotation basis. Balochistan Province, which is a project area, is already declared as unsafe and UN missions are frequently not allowed to travel to the Province. In addition, the security situation also affected fielding of technical missions as the experts became unavailable. Unavailability of technical experts and HR was also a challenge, project took more than six months to hire consultant for media studio needs assessment. Efforts were also made to find appropriate international candidate through UNESCO-IOC but no international candidate showed interest in the assignment. Project also faced difficulties in finding suitable candidates for development of school safety action plan in coastal districts. In design and implementation of end-to-end tsunami early warning system at least three government institutions namely PMD, NDMA and Pakistan Navy Hydrography are directly involved. Creating synergy among the stakeholders took time. Moreover, initially project momentum was slow because tsunami early warning system is a new concept in Pakistan. Tide gauge maintenance and sea level rise training which was planned with GFZ Germany but was cancelled at the last moment by Pak Navy. D. Activities for Next Quarter Following key activities will be undertaken during next quarter. 1. Opening meeting of technical committee on costal multi hazards. 2. Installation of tide gauges at Gwadar and Ketti Bandar. 3. Trainings and fellowship for Bathymetry and sea level monitoring. 4. Needs analysis for Pakistan Metrological Department Media Studio and development of Media Studio. 6

15 5. Development of Tsunami Teacher Kit. 6. Development of school safety action plan for costal districts. E. Financial Status The financial status as of 31 December 2009 is as follows: Funding Source Contribution Fund Received Expenditure Implementation Rate % Total Available Revenue from Interest USD USD USD w.r.t Allocated Funds USD USD ISDR 396, , , % 228, , Total: 396, , , % 228, , * With respect to The total Operating Fund amounts to USD398,567.00, including USD1, revenue from interest. The project is producing the stated outputs at less cost than budgeted at the time of project design. The detailed statement of income and expenditure issued by UNESCO HQ is in Annexure IX. USD ***** 7