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Disaster mitigation project for city may emerge Wednesday, March 28, 2001

AHMEDABAD: Caught on the wrong foot by the killer quake on January 26, the civic authorities are now looking towards the sixth working group meeting of Asian Urban Disaster Mitigation Programme (AUDMP) being held in the city from Monday for invaluable tips on maintaining high level of preparedness for any eventuality.

Representatives of non-governmental organisations, government agencies and academic institutions from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Thailand, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Laos, Indonesia, China and India are participating in this three-day meeting on "How to make cities in Asia safer before disasters strike." The AUDMP is being jointly organised by the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC).

The ADPC is a regional resource centre working towards disaster reduction in Asia and the Pacific. Established in 1986, the centre is an important focal point for promoting disaster awareness and the development of local capabilities to foster institutionalised disaster management and mitigation policies.

Efforts of the civic authorities are already paying off. With a motto reading: The next time a disaster strikes the city, Amdavadis would be ready for it, a disaster mitigation project for the city will soon be prepared by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) of Thailand with assistance of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) and the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT).

Sources in the AMC disclosed that the Ahmedabad Disaster Mitigation Project has got added impetus from the USAID which will extend financial aid for this programme. While efforts are on to get help from the World Bank too, the disaster mitigation project will have regional centres at Rajkot and Surat.

"The first target is to get an emergency response system built into the fabric of Ahmedabad. If ever a disaster strikes, this system will enable rescue operators reach the site with minimum loss of time. The second target is to address long-term necessities for disaster preparedness and safety measures. Under the long-term programme, equipment, technical knowhow and more resources to tackle a disaster like that on the Republic Day will be provided in a more systematic manner," said the AMC sources.

Delivering the keynote address at the AUDMP, municipal commissioner K. Kailashnathan said that while relief and rescue operations in Ahmedabad were best possible under present circumstances with limitations of equipment and resources, there is space for improvement. Kailashnathan said that with proper resources and better equipment aided by a well-established disaster management system, loss of life and devastation could be minimised.

PU Asnani, advisor to the commissioner, said, "The three-day meet will be followed by one-day workshop on 'Urban Risk Reduction in Asia' on March 29 that looks at an integrated approach to disaster management with panel discussions. Senior officials of the state government, civic authorities and CEPT will attend this session which could mark the start of designing a comprehensive disaster mitigation package for Ahmedabad.

The package apart from ensuring deployment of specilised equipment, vehicles and manpower for disaster management will hold regular drills for civic bodies, fire brigade personnel and district administration to minimise response time. Upgradation of hospital services with poly-trauma centres equipped to handle multifarious problems emerging in the aftermath of a disaster and arming all fire stations with adequate heavy-duty machineries and equipments are the other salient features of the package.

Asnani added, "We hope to draw on the experiences shared by the international community at AUDMP. Countries like China, Nepal and Indonesia will have valuable inputs for earthquake-related disaster management. That apart, we are banking on ADPC's help and the session of January 29 to build a safer Ahmedabad."

 

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