The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Training to coastal villagers in disaster preparedness

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 03, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Training to coastal villagers in disaster preparedness

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, APRIL 2. Disaster preparedness has to be a continuous exercise. The Tamil Nadu Government is training villagers along the coast to keep them in a state of preparedness, C.K. Gariyali, Relief Commissioner, said here yesterday.

Vulnerable people and parts of geography would have to be identified and training should begiven to local leaders, self-help groups, local body leaders, municipal officials and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to meet the challenges arising out of disasters. Where people were given training they saved their lives.

Ms. Gariyali was speaking at an Asia-Pacific congress on disaster mitigation: capacity building for effective intervention," organised by the Academy for Disaster Management Education, Planning and Training. The NGOs and their areas of activity should be documented so that their services could be utilised for specific purposes. Disaster-affected people needed psychosocial support, accommodation, books and notebooks for children and financial help The Government provided relief to the affected people.

`Prevention

cost-effective'

Inaugurating the programme, Governor S.S. Barnala said effective prevention was preferable to disaster response; it was more cost-effective.

With rapid strides being made in science and technology, an early warning system and a public awareness campaign would help. Once the needs were identified, resources could be mobilised and channelled for optimum results. With timely information about the quake off Sumatra a few days ago, effective steps were taken in India.

As people got information in time, they themselves went to safer places fearing another tsunami, he said. The Governor gave away prizes to those who rendered service in the aftermath of the December 26, 2004 tsunami. He released a handbook and Ms. Gariyali received the first copy.

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