02 Indigenous Knowledge, Early Warning System and Disaster Management: A Case Study of Khetran Community in Balochistan, Pakistan

Abstract

Present study was conducted in a small community Nahar Kot, District Barkhan, Balochistan (Pakistan). The study aims at understanding the role of early warning system in disaster management at community level. Indigenous knowledge has a pivotal role in managing disasters in the absence of the scientific knowledge and vice-versa. This study sheds light on the role of early warning systems i.e. weather predictions based on typology of winds and predictions based on behavior of animals. The analysis shows that these masses of tribal community of Barkhan have an enriched indigenous knowledge purely based on their experiences. They also believe in the elders because of their vast experiences regarding local environment and they also get timely help from their elders to predict weather and mitigate with it.