Staff Correspondent
Port Blair, Nov 26: Forget about rest of these Islands, during the Cyclonic Storm ‘Lehar’ the State Disaster Control Room itself was in distress. The State Control Room, which is believed to be the safest place in these Islands and which is responsible for controlling all major activities in these Islands during any Disastrous situation, also suffered the brunt of the cyclone.
It has been learnt rain water was leaking inside the State Disaster Control Room through the ceiling. The staffs working in the control room had to rub floor with cloths to keep it dry. Even plastic sheets were used to cover the computers.
Sources close to a political leader, who reached the Control Room soon after the cyclone, told Andaman Sheekha that atleast two chambers inside the Control Room had witnessed such leakages.
No doubt the staffs of the State Disaster Control Room did a wonderful job to fight against all odds and manage the entire situation very professionally. Even the Commissioner cum Secretary of Disaster Management, Mrs. Punya S Srivastava was present inside the State Disaster Control Room whole night to manage the situation.
This incident occurred because the Disaster Control Room was build with a poor design, leaving gaps between the roof and the ceiling. Thus rain water comes inside the ceiling and sips down inside the control room. During any disastrous situation the State Control works as a life line for the entire Island and one could imagine what would happens if tomorrow another cyclone or cloud burst hit Andaman and rain water damages all the computers.
It has been learnt that a new building of Disaster Management is under planning, which will be built spending crores of rupees. Hope that the new building is built with proper planning and in a safe place.
