The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Disaster management plans coming at all levels

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 19, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Disaster management plans coming at all levels

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, JULY 18. The Tamil Nadu Government proposes to prepare disaster management plans at the village, panchayat, block and district levels, the Chief Secretary, Lakshmi Pranesh, said here yesterday.

Emergency operation centres would be set up at the State and district levels for compilation, analysis and dissemination of information. They would function as hubs for coordination and preparedness activities before and during a disaster. State and district-level search and rescue teams would be formed and the team members given training to tackle any disaster, she said inaugurating a sensitisation session on "Pre-disaster measures necessary for facing earthquakes," organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Ms. Pranesh said pre-disaster measures were necessary to reduce the loss of human life and cattle and damage to property.

Loss due to natural disasters in developed countries was the least compared to developing countries. This, she said, was due to well-planned disaster management programmes.

The Chief Secretary said a memorandum of understanding was signed by Tamil Nadu with the United Nations Development Programme for implementing a programme to reduce the vulnerability of communities to natural disasters in identified multi hazard-prone districts — Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Nagapattinam, Cuddalore and Kanyakumari.

Earlier, the Special Commissioner and Commissioner for Revenue Administration, R. Santhanam, said the country had become more and more vulnerable to natural disasters and no part was classified risk-free. He was for creating awareness among the public, community participation and revising building codes so that they could withstand earthquakes.

T.T. Ashok, chairman, Tamil Nadu unit of CII, said on the revised seismic zoning map drawn by the Bureau of Indian Standards, Chennai was reclassified, from a low to moderate risk zone.

This showed that Chennai had increased vulnerability to earthquakes.

He said deaths and destruction during earthquakes could be avoided if precautionary measures were taken.

The workshop would sensitise pre-disaster measures necessary for facing earthquakes, Mr. Ashok said.

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