The scale of the disaster that occurred at Nagaram village in East Godavari district, claiming 17 lives and leaving many others injured, calls for a dire need to set up Community Emergency Response Teams, said former member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) N. Vinod Chandra Menon.
Mr. Menon said that as part of Critical Infrastructure Protection Safeguards, the authorities concerned at the local-level must identify educated youth volunteers and train them adequately in disaster preparedness.
“It has come to light that the corroded pipeline was not regularly monitored. Moreover, people living in such vulnerable areas must remain extremely alert all the time. Mock exercises must be taken up at least once every six months to make the locals aware of the intensity of such accidents,” he said.
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Mr. Menon, who was a consultant to the UNICEF, UNDP, World Bank and ADPC on various aspects of disaster management before joining the Government of India, said aggressive campaign involving local NGOs, besides making the District Disaster Management Authorities active, would go a long way in helping minimising the loss.
“We need to move from the culture of reaction to culture of preparedness as far as safety of the common man is concerned. What we saw at Nagaram was a man-made disaster. In projects like these, three key aspects—construction, maintenance and operation-- are important, which was ignored,” says Vikas Gora, Member, Sub-group on Disaster Management of the 12 Five Year Plan of the Planning Commission.
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“In Western countries, oil and gas plants are built away from human habitations. Mere display of boards displaying ‘Do Not Dig Here’ will not serve the purpose. Disaster preparedness is the need of the hour. There is an urgent need to build a culture of safety,” emphasises Mr. Gora, who is also Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Management Advisor to the NGOs and corporates.