Taking heart from the exemplary volunteerism displayed by the local people in leading rescue operations following the boat tragedy, the district administration is seriously considering a proposal to develop local community-level task forces as the first line of action to fight disasters.
Though police, fire and rescue, coast guard, and marine enforcement did join rescue operations, authorities admit that the death toll would have been far higher had it not been for the urgency shown by the local community. They even helped control traffic to make way for the smooth movement of ambulances carrying the injured to hospitals.
“The initiative shown by local people following Fort Kochi boat tragedy has only reaffirmed the fact that training and equipping local community is the best way to deal with disasters when time is a critical factor,” district collector M.G. Rajamanickam told
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| Mapping areas prone to water tragedies |
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| *Local community members to be trained as first line of defense in rescue operations. |
| *Task force compromising swimmers to be launched soon. |
The multiple hazard zonation map prepared by the District Disaster Management Authority will be the basis for developing the kind of task forces for respective areas. For instance, areas prone to water tragedies would have a task force made of expert swimmers.
Following his interactions with members of the local community who had actively participated in rescue operations at Fort Kochi, the collector had asked them to identify interested people, especially youngsters, who are willing to volunteer for rescue operations in such disasters. A meeting to explore the possibility of putting in place community-level task forces will be held within a week. Volunteers for the task forces will be identified with the help of youth clubs.
After working out a plan to strengthen community participation in fighting disasters, it would be moved to the State government with regard to the training of task force members and equipping them.