LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday approved a summary for the establishment of Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) units in nine divisions of the province, l
A Rs1585.476 million budget for purchasing the machinery and equipment to handle such emergencies has also been sanctioned, a handout issued on Wednesday said.

Under the plan, the Pakistan Army will train the master trainers of Rescue 1122 in `Urban Search and Rescue Operations` and they will further train the rescuers.The army and Capital Development Authority (CDA) possess the requisite modern urban search and rescue equipment, along with trained human resource.

According to the summary, the USAR teams shall be established in Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan and Sahiwal divisions.

Punjab home department had constituted a committee led by Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122) Director General Retired Brig Dr Arshad Zia. Its members include representative of army, CDA and Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA). The body was tasked with standardising the machin-ery and equipment for establishment of USAR units.

The committee held several meetings at the GHQ, Rawalpindi and recommended an estimated Rs1585.476 million budget for each division for the purchase of USAR machinery and equipment.

After consultation with USAR experts from the army and CDA, the DG proposed that each USAR unit should consist of 50 rescuers and they should perform their duties exclusively for management of such emergencies, including search and rescue operations for collapsed structures.

The step will enhance operational capacity of the rescue service to cope with complex emergencies, structure collapse and earthquake damage etc.