Prologue

There is a real dearth of simple Disaster Management books suitable for instruction purposes in Pakistan as well as elsewhere in the world. It is in this very context that the Pakistan Book Foundation has had the good fortune of commissioning the publication of this book “Taming Disasters: A Key to Disaster Management” by renowned DRM expert, teacher, trainer and consultant, Mr. Asrar Ayyub.

Inspired by Victor Hugo, who once said, “you cannot resist an idea whose time has come”, it is my proud privilege to present to you this timely guidance for our generation and many to come, in the hope that it will make this world a safer place and our people more resilient. 

Prof. Dr. Inam ul Haq Javeid

Managing Director

National Book Foundation of Pakistan

Author’s Note

Life is the greatest gift and protecting it is the greatest duty.

Life, from the very beginning is at risk from natural and man-made disasters and the human being, right from birth, tries to prevent hazards from becoming disasters.

We owe all of human development to the science of disaster management, whether in its crude or refined state.

Disaster management is the mother of all sciences but it cherishes close ties with the arts as well.

I have learned the Alphabets of Effective Disaster Management from my extensive labor as a disaster management student, teacher, practitioner, trainer and consultant.

I have all the reasons to believe that Disaster Management is the key to ultimate peace and prosperity.

The world has no option but to promote a global culture of Disaster Management by incorporating it as a compulsory subject in the curriculum of schools regardless of where they are, and irrespective of religion, ethnicity and other factors.

Asrar Ayyub

Acknowledgments

• “Asrar Ayyub is respected by the faculty and cherished overwhelmingly by the students for his profound understanding of the subject (Disaster Management) and articulate way of sharing it”. (Muhammad Yusuf Aziz, DG WAPDA Staff College Islamabad).
• “His grip over the subject (Disaster Management) is absolute and his literary/witty reinforcing explanations make his lectures extremely interesting”. (Major General Syed Usman Shah, Head of Department, Governance & Public Policy, National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad)
• “I have utilized this book in my research paper during my National Management Course in National Management College Lahore and I can write it with full confidence that “Taming Disasters” is a real key to effective disaster management”. (Shehzad Khan Bangash, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister KP, Ex. DG PDMA KP)
• “Mr. Asrar Ayyub has worked with “Action Against Hunger” as a Disaster Management Consultant for quite some time. He conducted many trainings and developed many documents for us to our utmost satisfaction. He has Disaster Management Knowledge that is rare in Pakistan.” (Rangaiya Kanaganathan, WASH & DRM Coordinator, Action Against Hunger, Pakistan Mission)