NEW DELHI: To coordinate relief and rescue operations in the event of an earthquake or a disaster of similar magnitude, two new control rooms will soon be set up by Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA). These control rooms will be independent of the police control room, though both agencies will work in close coordination.

According to sources in DDMA, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) has sanctioned the two control room numbers (1070 and 1077) and a payment of Rs. 2 lakhs has been made towards the same. The Authority will pay the same amount every year to retain the control room numbers.

These control rooms, operating from Delhi Secretariat, will also be linked to the nine district disaster management committees, which will have their own control rooms.

The committees will comprise top administrative and police officials of the district as well as elected members of the area. The control rooms at the district level will, however, not be as sophisticated as the central control room but will be used essentially to gather information from various agencies at work when disaster strikes.

The idea behind having a control room separate from that of the police is to ensure that channels of communication, which is crucial in expediting relief and rescue operations, are not blocked. Citing the example of Bhuj earthquake in 2002, a DDMA officer explained that only 90 calls of damages to buildings in Ahmedabad, which was far away from the worst affected areas, were enough to choke the police wireless.

In Delhi, whose seismic vulnerability has been well established by scientists, these numbers could be much higher. "In such circumstances, we ought to have a broader network which would not only be able to deal with huge number of calls but also be able to coordinate various aspects of relief and rescue operations," the officer said.

According to a senior Delhi police officer, a separate control room was a welcome idea.

"The job of the police, of course, would be that of the first responder. Collecting the initial information and making a preliminary assessment apart from maintaining law and order would be our function.

But beyond that other agencies will have to chip in and the load would too much to bear for any one control room," he said.

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