A donation and relief management portal to form linkages with the community for better coordination in times of disaster has been proposed at an open focussed group discussion on the Kerala floods here on Sunday.
Chaired by Anil Kumar Sinha, co-chair, UNDRR ARISE FICCI Network for India, the informal discussion at the Centre for Development Studies saw representatives from non-governmental organisations, IT industry, students, officials, medical students, environmental activists, and entrepreneurs who took part in the relief and rehabilitation measures post-floods talk about their experiences, challenges, and possible solutions.
Michael Veda Siromani, IAS( retd), also took part in the discussion.
Participants spoke of the lack of centralised coordination to manage relief materials flowing in from everywhere. Technology could provide answers to many problems.
Communication woes
Communication issues, particularly at the grass-roots-level, were flagged as a major hurdle.
Collection and supply of medicines left a lot to be desired. Medicines should be collected only after ascertaining needs, they said.
