A total of 4,399 areas in the coastal regions of the State have been identified as vulnerable to tsunami by a comprehensive study on natural calamities.
These areas have been categorised, based on tidal heights, as very highly vulnerable, highly vulnerable, moderately vulnerable and those with low vulnerability.
On Friday, the State’s preparedness to natural calamities like earthquake or tsunami was put to test with various Central and government agencies involved in a safety drill.
The control room of the State’s Disaster Management Agency in Ezhilagam was filled with activity as the government agencies were conducting ‘rescue operations’ executed as part of the Multi-State Tsunami Exercise.
R.B. Udhayakumar, Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management, said based on the advice of the Central government, a safety drill was organised in the coastal areas covering five States including Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Odisha, to assess the alertness and preparedness of the rescue teams.
Based on an ‘alert’ by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), the evacuation drill was carried out in two places in the city in Oorur Kuppam, Besant Nagar, and Naianar Kuppam in Sholinganallur. INCOIS, headquartered in Hyderabad, is the premier agency involved in predicting natural calamities in coastal regions at least three hours before any earthquake or tsunami strikes. Based on an alert from INCOIS, the drill was organised.
K. Satyagopal, Commissioner of Revenue Administration, Disaster Management and Mitigation, said that detailed instructions had been given to Collectors of coastal areas for carrying out emergency rescue measures.
Communication flow
The emphasis was on the communication flow between the government officials, employees of local bodies, departments of police and revenue, personnel of Coast Guard, and National Disaster Response Force and volunteers and communities identified in the vulnerable areas for evacuation of the affected people.
On the drill, Mr. Satyagopal said, “First a watch would be announced in the event of an earthquake in the ocean [which could be withdrawn if there is no threat of a tsunami] but once an alert is issued within 10 minutes of the watch, some kind of Tsunami would strike.” He said once an alert is sounded out, the rescue agencies within the communities identified in the coastal areas would make all arrangements to make people move to higher places.
