Disaster management non-starter
Plans On Paper But Capital Not Prepared To Handle Calamity
Rumu Banerjee TNN
New Delhi: Three years after the state government notified the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), the city seems prepared to face any emergency. In theory, that is. The draft disaster management plan, which state nodal officer, divisional commissioner (revenue) DM Spolia says has been approved by the Lieutenant-Governor, is an elaborate document complete with specifications of the scope of work that district-level teams would have in an emergency.
The reality is far different. From an acutely slow pace of implementation to the lack of a robust chain of command, the much-vaunted DDMA seems to be floundering even before it gets off the ground.
The facts speak for themselves. Three years after inception, DDMA has no dedicated staff, with the government appointing district project officers and project coordinators as late as January this year. Insiders claim that key positions like that of disaster management experts, monitoring and evaluation officer as well as capacity building officers remain vacant. And though Spolia insists that his officers in the revenue department are “more than adequate”, the fact is that the lack of a dedicated team is taking its toll.
Says Dr Santosh Kumar, an expert from the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), “Abroad, in countries like Japan and the US, a dedicated cadre has been established for disaster response and management.” The immediate impact of a work force that only undertakes disaster management part-time is in implementation, said Dr Kumar.
Acase in point is the capacity building of citizens. With Delhi facing fairly high chances of complex emergency situations like the one in Japan, awareness amongst Delhiites about disaster management and how to respond in such a scenario is crucial.
“An aggressive awareness campaign needs to be launched so that citizens get to know how to respond in an emergency. It’s patently lacking at the moment,” adds Dr Kumar. The city, he adds, is especially vulnerable because of the high densification and frail construction. “In Japan, people knew what to do in such a situation, and that saved many lives,” said an official. It’s not just lack of awareness that is lacking in the government’s disaster management planning. While a rudimentary emergency operations centre (EOC) has been established at state and district levels, the absence of staff, training and equipment are sore points. Government officials admit the EOCs are basically a two-man show, especially at the district level. Training is sporadic even as mock drills have become routine features.
“Since the mock drills are planned, everyone knows what needs to be done. Surprise drills are few, if any, so that we have no actual quantification of the level of preparedness,” said an official. The quick response teams, that are the first line of defence in disaster management plan, are yet to be set up in all districts, add sources.
That’s not all. Equipment, which Spolia says is to be provided by the support agency (like PWD or Metro depending on the rescue team), is also an issue. Sources say that the few equipment that have been bought are laying waste in store rooms. “A human detector that was bought two years ago is kept in the store room, as there’s no trained manpower. It was only used once during the Zamrudpur collapse,” added the source.
with thanks : Times of India : link above for more detailed news.
