The East Godavari district administration is making arrangements to distribute Distress Alert Transmitter (DAT) gadgets to 2,000 fishing boats by the end of the month. Fisheries Department officials have already procured 460 devices so far.
Announcing this during the district-level cyclone mitigation meeting held here on Thursday, Collector H. Arun Kumar said DATs would be of help to both fishermen and officials during times of distress. He added that the whereabouts of boats could be ascertained by the control room in Chennai using the gadget. The control room, in turn, will direct the Coast Guard to assist the fishermen on board.
“Similarly, there is an immediate need to launch the practice of registering details of all boats that are venturing into the sea for fishing on daily basis.
This data will help us during times of distress, as data about missing fishermen will be available with us,” he said, adding that Fisheries Department officials should conduct cyclone preparedness training programmes in fishermen hamlets.
On cyclone preparedness, he asked officials to be equipped with the contact details of officials at the village level and various service providers.
He also underscored the need for advanced preparedness by the Medical and Health Department by way of procuring medicines in advance and by police. Joint Collector S. Satyanarayana was present.
