For people living in vulnerable coastal areas to prepare for tropical cyclones similar to the exercises being practised by the Indian Ocean Rim countries for Tsunamis, mock drills should be conducted, suggested Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Madhavan Nair Rajeevan here.
“It is not enough to have state-of-the-art early warning centres and giving out information. The last mile connectivity is important to intimate people. There is no meaning if people on the ground do not respond. There needs to be constant training and public awareness on alerting the public. Tropical cyclone community can learn from Tsunami exercises,” he said.
Dr. Rajeevan was addressing delegates attending the Second Integrated Tsunami Warnings Related meetings - held from June 26 to July 9, hosted by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS). He pointed out that the Indian Tsunami Early Warning System was established in a record 16 months soon after the devastating 2004 Tsunami where over 10,000 lives were lost here.
Forewarned
Since Tsunamis are unpredictable and move fast and 26% of population live within 100 km. from the Indian shoreline, there is need to prepare ahead of time through planning, development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and practice through drills, he said.
Delegates from 18 countries of the Indian Ocean region attended the meet organised by the Secretariat for the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/IOTWMS) Perth, Australia, in association with the Indian Ocean Tsunami Information Centre based in Jakarta, Indonesia.
INCOIS Director Satheesh Shenoi emphasised the need for update of modules because different departments handle disaster managements in various countries.
‘Prevent recurrence’
He extolled the working groups to come out with better plans for early warnings and mitigation to prevent recurrence of “2004 Tsunami”.
Safer Indian Ocean
Starting from just a handful stations in 2004 to 140 Seismic Stations, 100 Sea level Stations and nine Tsunameters with open data access allowing detection and monitoring of earthquakes and tsunamis in real time, the warning systems have come a long way making Indian Ocean much safer but it is necessary for coastal communities to always be prepared and ready to respond, said the Head, Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System Secretariat, UNESCO, Australia, Srinivasa T. Kumar.
Chair of Intergovernmental Coordination Group for Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System Andi Eka Sakya and Head, Indian Ocean Tsunami Information Centre, UNESCO, Indonesia, Ardito Kodijat, also spoke, while Head of Tsunami and Storm Surge Early Warning Services Group Pattabhi E. Rama Rao proposed the vote of thanks.
