The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Madras University seeks Central assistance for calamities study centre

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 01, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Madras University seeks Central assistance for calamities study centre

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, FEB. 28. The University of Madras has sent a proposal to the Central Government seeking assistance for a Rs. 3-crore project to establish a national centre for the study of natural hazards and calamities. It has already received grants of Rs. 50 lakhs for five projects to assess the geological impact of the December 26 tsunami in the coastal areas in the State.

Addressing a national seminar on `Disaster Management: Tsunami 2004, Challenges and Responses,' the Vice Chancellor of the University, S.P. Thyagarajan, said the proposal for the national centre had been sent through the Central Planning Commission.

He expressed the hope that the University would get the support shortly so that it could play an effective role in assisting the State Government and the Centre in their efforts to create a tsunami warning system, besides evolving preventive strategies and assessing environmental impact of natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and cyclones.

Five projects

The University had also sought assistance from the Science and Technology Department for taking up five different projects under the Departments of Geology and Applied Geology. The University had recently been provided a grant of Rs. 50 lakhs at the rate of Rs. 10 lakhs for each project, he said. The projects were aimed at assessing the geological changes in the tsunami-hit areas. One of the projects would ascertain if an effective tsunami warning strategy could be evolved using the available infrastructure such as geographic information systems for the benefit of the people living in coastal areas.

As many as 18,000 volunteers of the National Service Scheme (NSS) of the University had taken part in the relief and rehabilitation work in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam district, he said. About 200 NSS volunteers had helped the efforts of actor Vivek Oberoi to put up shelters for displaced fisherfolk in Cuddalore.

Army efforts

Major General K.S. Sivakumar, Head (Army wing), Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, said the Government's response to the tsunami was prompt and a massive effort was launched albeit with a few hiccups. The refusal of international aid was directly linked to the country's capability of handling disasters of such magnitude, he added.

"The first responders have been the Indian Armed Forces who rose to the occasion along with other Government and non-government agencies" by conducting four operations code named `Sea Waves' encompassing "all our islands and the affected parts of the mainland," `Rainbow' covering the West and East Coast of Sri Lanka, `Castor' covering the Maldives and `Gambhir' providing relief for Indonesia.

The Director General of Police, A.X. Alexander, said the State Government, police, various non-governmental organisations, the Armed Forces, political parties and the press had faced the challenge of the tsunami and responded excellently.

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