Floods expose chinks in AP`s disaster

9(F)/S/O/AP The Financial Express/ New Delhi/ 05/ 11/ 07

Floods expose chinks in AP's disaster preparedness KVVV Charya Hyderabad

Notwithstanding the claims of officials that the machinery is fully geared to face natural calamities like floods and cyclones, the recent floods in Nellore and Kadapa have exposed the lack of trained personal and equipment to deal with such an emergency. While several people (14 as per government records) were washed away in the swirling waters crying for help, the officials stood watching like mute spectators. M Shashidhar Reddy, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), said there was lack of coordination among the departments concerned. This, he said, could be the major reason for the failure to handle the situation effectively. It was high time the state government estab lished a specialised disaster response team, besides training civilians to respond to such trying times, he added. Although, the Union government had allocated Rs 660 crore towards specialised training and equipment, no inflatable boats or life jackets are available, says a senior official. The general impression in political and official circles is that the state has miserably failed in protecting the people from the floods. Interestingly, NDMA had selected Andhra Pradesh as a test case for cyclone and floods and had even conducted mock drills. However, such exercises are not sufficient to make the government staff (who are engaged in disaster management at state and district levels) to react, a senior officer told FE. They need to be given specialised training with de fined responsibility during calamities, like alerting the army for air and land help, arranging for medical staff and emergency medicines etc., he added. Meanwhile, the state government plans to utilise the services of firemen to impart training to youth and school children. The AP Fire and Emergency Services will be made the nodal agency for civil defence training and disaster management. As the police department is not ready to take up civil defence training activity, the government is now looking at the fire department, officials said. The training will mainly focus on fire-fighting, firstaid and emergencies. Further, sources said that NDMA had agreed to provide over Rs 100 crore to improve the fire department, besides buying latest equipment.