Emergency centre to handle disasters

The Revenue and Disaster Management Department plans to set up an emergency operations centre linked to the office of the State Disaster Management Authority to handle various kinds of disasters. This will ensure effective decision making and management of disasters under unified command.
The State Disaster Management Policy envisages that the department be the nodal department for management of all types of natural disasters, including water and climate-related disasters and geological disasters. The scope of the department has been enhanced to include prevention, mitigation and preparedness aspects of disaster management, apart from its traditional role in relief and rehabilitation.

The Home Department will be the nodal department for management of man-made and human induced disasters, including air and rail accidents. The Department of Public Health will be the nodal department for chemical, biological (health related), radiological and nuclear disasters. The Factories and Boilers Department will be the nodal department for industrial accidents and it will work in tandem with the Industries Department in the event of a disaster. The Agricultural Department will deal with pest attacks and cattle epidemics will be handled by the Animal Husbandry Department. The Irrigation and the Public Works departments will be the lead agencies for disasters related to dam bursts and major building collapse, respectively. The Forest Department will be the nodal department for disasters such as forest fire.An institutional mechanism distinguished as ‘Crisis Management Group,’ under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary with representatives of Home Department, including the Police; the Revenue and Disaster Management Department; and the Health Department; will function at the State level as a nerve centre to support, coordinate and monitor crisis management activities. ‘Crisis Management Plans’ that clearly define response roles and responsibilities of government agencies, facilitate communication across agencies, specify protocols and procedures, and detail actions to be taken by the government departments will be prepared and made operational by the State government.In addition to the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) at the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, emergency operation centres will function under the nodal departments and district collectors. They will be designed in such a way as to promptly assess and relay information to the parties concerned. “As the master coordinator and control point for all disaster efforts, the EOC is the place of decision making and effective implementation under a unified command. The EOC will function round the clock and maintain direct linkage with district control rooms through phone, fax, wireless and the Internet. The State Disaster Management Authority will ensure that a comprehensive information network is available for timely collection of hazard-related information and rapid dissemination of relevant information and warnings,” the policy says.The policy further suggests that disaster management shall be included as an integral part of development plans of the State. Disaster risk analysis and audit and environment impact analysis shall be introduced as a binding requirement for development and infrastructure programmes.A batch of officials from the police and the Fire and Rescue Services completed training in disaster management at the Institute of Land and Disaster Management here on Friday.

The Hindu, November 1st , 2009