The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Local bodies to have disaster management plans

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Friday, Sep 22, 2006
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Local bodies to have disaster management plans

Special Correspondent

Location-specific action plans for local bodies

Thiruvananthapuram: The Government has issued guidelines to local bodies to help them prepare decentralised disaster management plans that can be integrated into the district-level preparedness exercise.

Panchayats, municipalities and corporations have been directed to come up with location-specific plans focussing on vulnerability to hazards, prevention, mitigation and preparedness plans and a response mechanism to handle relief and rehabilitation of affected people.

The guidelines were issued at a workshop organised here recently by the Institute of Land Management (ILM) for representatives of local self-government institutions.

According to Dr.K.G.Thara, Head, Disaster Management faculty, the decentralised strategy has been formulated in a bid to increase the effectiveness of disaster management.

At the district level, the Collector is the focal point for disaster response and recovery. A crisis management group comprising district-level representatives of all the concerned departments will be set up. Coordination and action will be handled by committees consisting of sub division level officers.

The district disaster management plan outlines specific responsibilities for panchayati raj and municipal institutions, NGOs and the media.

Local bodies will have to identify prevention and mitigation measures for each type of disaster and prepare an action plan with time schedule, based on the availability of resources.

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