A special aircraft to fly into the cyclone core environment and obtain accurate data about the intensity and direction of a cyclone could soon be commissioned, with a committee already set up under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences during the mid-term appraisal of the 11th Five Year Plan to look into the details.
Legislator and member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), M. Shashidhar Reddy shared the details after inaugurating a workshop on ‘Lessons Learnt in South India Flood Response Programme' organised here on Monday.
“The manned cyclone reconnaissance aircraft, a Hercules C-130, can reduce the errors in predictions about cyclone track, intensity and landfall by 16 to 33 per cent. We will be able to limit the evacuation exercise accordingly, as the identification of people in need of help will be easier and more accurate,” said Mr. Reddy with reference to the confusion created recently about the course of Cyclone Laila.
The aircraft can withstand winds, and travel to the eye of the cyclone, he said.
Accepting the sloppy maintenance of cyclone shelters as a serious concern, he felt reasons for such failures should be properly assessed and documented.
NGOs have a major role to play in this, he said.
Earlier, N.M. Prusty, the Chairperson of Sphere India, lamented that it was disturbing to note the rivalry and conflict among humanitarian organisations in the context of disaster management.
T. Gopal Rao, the Executive Vice-Chairman of GO-NGO Collaboration urged the NGOs to federate at district-level and hold frequent meetings. The workshop was organised by NGO ‘Save the Children'.
