The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : "Planning can mitigate the rigours of disaster"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 18, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

"Planning can mitigate the rigours of disaster"

Special Correspondent

Community involvement key for plan's success: C. V. Sankar

CHENNAI: Mitigating loss due to disaster would be possible only if there is careful planning within the community during normal times, C.V. Sankar, Officer on special duty, Tsunami Relief and Rehabilitation, said on Thursday.

At a meeting on community based disaster risk management system jointly organised by the Tiruvallur Resource Centre, Chennai District Resource Centre and Kancheepuram Resource Centre and facilitated by the Tamil Nadu Tsunami Resource Centre, Mr. Sankar said involvement of the community is the key for any mitigation plan to succeed. While it was impossible to prevent or even predict a disaster, it was possible to be prepared in the event of a disaster. Homes are currently being built, under the post-tsunami rehabilitation scheme, to withstand all manner of disasters, evacuation routes are being mapped in the villages and early warning systems have been set up in various coastal centres, he said. A proposal to introduce the practice of taking life insurance among the folk in the coastal villages, through the self help group movement, will also be implemented soon, he said.

But in addition to this, the community must learn how to help the elderly and disabled, evacuate the villagers to minimise life loss and provide first aid to the injured. The Sports Development Authority has also been approached to hold swimming camps in each district, to provide training to the youth.

Mr. Sankar also emphasised the need to continue these programmes. The community must also actively participate and not wait for the government to do all the work when disaster strikes.

Nalini Keshavraj, Director, TNTRC, said the seminar aimed at promoting and integrating community-based disaster risk management within the existing programmes.

For instance, a lot of work is being done in the areas of water and sanitation, health, environment, shelter and protection; if disaster management was incorporated into each of these programmes, it would ready the community to be ready to face disasters.

Over 80 persons from Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur involved in tsunami relief and rehabilitation attended the programme.

Field visit

On Friday, the second day of the seminar, these participants will be taken on a field visit to the Pazhaverkadu region of Tiruvallur district, to demonstrate community involvement in disaster preparedness, she said.

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