Port Blair, Dec. 13: With a view to create disaster awareness amongst the stakeholders, so that they can respond to any disaster, the Directorate of Disaster Management, A&N Administration, in coordination with Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad organized a day long workshop for capacity building of all Disaster Management Functionaries of this Union Territory. The Lt. Governor, A&N Islands, Admiral DK Joshi, PVSM, AVSM, YSM, NM, VSM (Retd.) inaugurated the workshop as the chief guest by lighting the traditional oil lamp in the conference hall of Megapode Resort here this morning. The Chief Secretary, A&N Administration, Shri Anindo Majumdar, DGP, Smti Nuzhat Hassan, Principal Secretary (DM&RR), Shri SCL Das, Head, Tsunami Warning Center (INCOIS), Shri E. Pattabhi, stakeholders from various Departments, Senior Officers of the Administration and Scientists from INCOIS, Hyderabad were present on this occasion.
Addressing the gathering, the Lt. Governor expressed happiness on the conduct of such an important workshop for capacity building of disaster management functionaries of A&N Islands. Mentioning about the topography of A&N Islands, the Lt. Governor said, as the Islands are located at the confluence of two trenches and three tectonic plates, we are living in a very vulnerable location, particularly the Southern group of Islands; and hence, we must take a serious view on disaster management and capacity building to deal with any eventuality. He said, the interplay of these three tectonic plates can give rise to unpredictable disaster, hence we must be well prepared. Though the lessons learnt from the devastating Tsunami of 2004 has led to deliberations on disaster management through knowledge gained from participation in international workshops and conferences, yet there is a need for identifying the areas where more preparations are needed, said the Lt. Governor. “We cannot prevent disaster from occurring, but its management is very important. Hence, our strategies have to be channelized in management of disaster by strengthening the capacity building of all stakeholders, minimizing the impact on life and property besides several other components”, he said. The 2004 Tsunami has led to various deliberations and this has provided us with regulatory framework and special emphasis has been laid on disaster preparedness and mitigation. As part of the efforts for better disaster preparedness and management, six Emergency Operation Centres have been established one each at Port Blair, Mayabunder, Hutbay, Car Nicobar, Kamorta and Campbell Bay, which are functional 24 x 7, monitoring, analyzing and timely disseminating information for all types of disaster mitigation, informed the Lt. Governor. A State Control Room in Port Blair and District Control Rooms in all the three Districts have been set up.
The Lt. Governor also informed that in addition to these, an Early Warning & Communication System has also been set up, which is linked up with four VSATs of Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, Ministry of Home Affairs, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and National Disaster Management Authority. VHF connectivity of State Control Room with the network of all other major stakeholders has been established, he said, adding that this has enabled us to establish network with four major channels in carrying out real time communication and sharing of data on timely basis.
The Lt. Governor further stated that there is a need to harness technology in order to get early warnings and prevent loss of time. He expressed happiness that a number of other steps have also been initiated to strengthen the disaster management and preparedness in the Islands to improve the Tsunami Early Warning System by setting up permanent GPS Observatories across the Islands which will record the activity of different parameters round the clock and uplink it through satellites. This, he said, will trigger immediate warning alert of any disaster in the Islands.
The Lt. Governor further stated that PRIs and other citizens in the Islands have been actively participating in the disaster management and response efforts. In addition to this, the Disaster Management Department has also integrated students and teachers of various schools and colleges across the Islands to volunteer during Disaster management/preparedness exercises, which would further require exposure training and workshops like this to understand the process of disaster preparedness and mitigation in the most efficient manner.
In his key note address, the Chief Secretary, Shri Anindo Majumdar said, the workshop is a part of the ongoing efforts of the Administration for capacity building of all stakeholders and has been organized after the recent visit to INCOIS wherein representatives from A&N Administration were informed about the measures taken by INCOIS and steps that need to be taken by the Administration in Disaster preparedness and capacity building. The Chief Secretary remarked that since we are situated in a vulnerable location, we must be better prepared by involving various stakeholders besides the rural communities in Disaster Management. He also informed about the visit of the representative of A&N Islands to Japan for a 40 day course on disaster management and preparedness. The representatives have carried back very important information which needs to be incorporated in disaster management in Isles viz. involvement of stakeholders, people likely to be affected etc.; while incorporating strong traditional knowledge along with systematic and scientific knowledge is also important, he said. The Chief Secretary also highlighted the roles of first responders and other stakeholders who need to work in close coordination during disaster and also post disaster. The need to assess vulnerability of the location, population, rehabilitation post disaster, has to be mainstreamed into all plans, especially building plans, said the Chief Secretary adding that disaster reduction needs to be addressed with great urgency. The Chief Secretary said, this workshop will certainly enrich the officers and stakeholders to deal with any disaster in the most efficient manner and should be a continuous process.
Welcoming the gathering, the Principal Secretary (DM&RR), Shri SCL Das said, this workshop is a sequel to the visit of the Chief Secretary and Director, Disaster Management to INCOIS recently. The Principal Secretary also lauded INCOIS for being a great partner for A&N Administration in Disaster Management by giving valuable suggestions and guidance in terms of infrastructure development, disaster preparedness and warnings. He said, multi agency efforts and participation is required for disaster management. He also expressed hope that the workshop would yield beneficial outputs for all stakeholders which will be disseminated to all the Departments; which in turn, will be carried to the public at large. He further said that Disaster Management in India has not been traditionally mainstreamed; it is a relatively recent phenomenon. He said, during the last 12 years, lot of learning, capacity addition have taken place and A&N Islands have been one of the active entities in terms of participation, capacity building. However, he said, there are areas where more works need to be done viz. disaster reduction and prevention.
Speaking on the occasion, the Director, Disaster Management, Shri Govind Ram said, in hospitality nature is most beautiful and lovely but in hostility the very same nature is most brutal and ugly. It is pertinent to make our disaster management preparedness foolproof so that we become disaster resilient, he said.
A video presentation by INCOIS on Indian Ocean Tsunami Mock 2016 was screened on the occasion followed by presentation on Indian Tsunami Early Warning System (components, Standard Operation Procedure (SOP), bulletins and dissemination) and presentation on end to end Tsunami Warning (Stakeholders, roles & responsibilities, SOP, guidelines and linkage).
Later, a technical session was held in which experts from various Departments spoke on topics related to Standard Operating Procedures and roles of State Control Room, role of ANC, NDRF, Police, Health Department, District Administrations of South Andaman, N&M Andaman and Nicobar District. This was followed by suggestions/modifications for Mock Tsunami Drill by stakeholders.
A tabletop exercise was also presented by INCOIS on the occasion. The workshop concluded with the summing up of the deliberations by the Director, Disaster Management, Shri Govind Ram.
