In the coming years, Indian coastal villages may be able to shed their ‘vulnerable’ tags in exchange for ‘tsunami-ready’ designation, bestowed upon them by the United Nations.
A national-level board that aims to prepare India’s coastal communities to face tsunamis met for the first time, since its constitution two months ago, at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) here on Friday. The board resolved to write to governments of coastal States seeking recommendations for villages at risk. The recommendations would kick-off a pilot project under the hazard preparedness programme.
“These are the first steps being taken as part the Indian Ocean Tsunami Ready programme that was instituted under the aegis of UNESCO,” said Satish C. Shenoy, the Director of INCOIS.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation devised a programme to promote tsunami hazard preparedness among coastal communities by assessing preparedness and recognising with the ‘Tsunami-Ready’ tag. Guidelines for the programme were framed in September 2017. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami prompted setting up of early warning systems for the region which are now successfully producing alerts, Dr. Shenoy said, while adding that preparing communities to survive tsunamis was the need of the hour.
In India, the national board, comprising representatives from INCOIS, disaster management agencies, coastal States and the Ministry of Home Affairs, would help villages meet 11 criteria of tsunami preparedness before designating them tsunami-ready.
Villages deemed ready by the national board would then get to apply at the international level to UNESCO for the tag.
“We have found that some States meet some parameters, but not all of them. For instance, communities need to have maps that help escape when waves hit, which needs to be developed as part of preparedness,” said E. Pattabi Rama Rao, who heads the Tsunami Early Warning Centre at INCOIS.
The INCOIS conducted a national-level workshop on Friday to prepare the Army, navy, coast guard and representatives from nine coastal States on Tsunami Standard Operating Procedure in view of an upcoming tsunami mock exercise in the Indian Ocean region on September 4 and 5.
