Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Coastal places should be able to tackle any disaster' that was published in Newsband

Coastal places should be able to tackle any disaster

Coastal districts are vulnerable against extreme weather events. Tamil Nadu was more prepared than before to deal with Cyclone Gaja when it made landfall between Nagapattinam and Vedaranyam on November 16, but it still took a toll of at least 45 lives. The severe cyclonic storm damaged infrastructure, property and agriculture. Professionalising of disaster management more than 15 years ago appears to be paying off. Bureaucracies are able to provide early warning and in mitigating the impact of cyclones. The National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project started by the Ministry of Home Affairs has been working to reduce the impact of such catastrophic events.

Tamil Nadu’s political parties have acted in a mature manner and kept partisan criticism from getting in the way of relief and rehabilitation after Gaja. The financial relief of ₹10 lakh that has been promised for families of the dead, compensation for lost crops, trees and livestock, provision of emergency health intervention and rehabilitation assistance to rebuild lives.

Coastal States must focus on reducing the hazard through policies that expand resilient housing, build better storm shelters and create financial mechanisms for insurance and compensation. T

Two months ago heavy rains and floods devastated Kodagu in Karnataka. Three months after the floods, signs of devastation are still everywhere. In Thantipala, the van of a local resident lies almost fully buried in sand left behind by flood water. Mounds of flood residue comprising mud and broken trees line up either side of the road paved out. Large coffee estates have been wiped out.

 Apart from dealing with coming to terms with the present, many are worried about the future. The Kodagu district administration has identified 840 beneficiaries who will be given houses in the first phase. The government will approve one of the five model houses being built by different agencies and companies. The beneficiaries were chosen based on applications and cross verification with agencies such as the gram panchayats. Some people had expressed willingness to build houses on their own, for which the government would provide some compensation, and they too could utilise the technology implemented in the model houses. The unit cost is yet to be decided,

The Kerala Fire Force Officers Association (KFOA) has called for the setting up of task forces under the Fire and Rescue Services Department in all district headquarters for disaster management. An intensive training programme on the lines of that for police commandos has also been sought for fire services personnel to equip them to handle disasters.

The biggest hurdle to disaster management these days is the lack of emergency tenders that can be used in all terrains. Also, many of our squad members are unskilled in handling rescue equipment used during landslips, a change in the situation was possible only through the formation of a new task force.

The department needs a fair strength of scuba divers for deep water rescue operations, and there is a need for experienced hands in each sector for quick response. There is need to form fully-equipped task forces in all districts with members who are well-trained in disaster mitigation and rescue services. There should be at least one amphibious rescue vehicle for each division to add teeth to the project.

There is a need to call for the formation of district-level task forces rather than putting the whole responsibility on the newly constituted community-level rescue volunteers group. There is need for intervention of the government to introduce a suitable working dress for rescue squad members. This is in addition to demands for the formation of an exclusive research and development wing for the Fire and Rescue Services Department and an investigation team to probe fire-related cases.