Incident response system is not satisfactory: Official

DK is listed in category 3 in terms of vulnerability to earthquake

 Stating that India is one among the ten most disaster-prone countries in the world, Assistant Director at the Department of Union Territory Civil Service (UTCS) Rajesh Bhatia regretted that the incident response system is not satisfactory in the country despite being vulnerable to disasters.

He was addressing officers of various departments from Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts, at a five-day training programme on incident response system and simulation exercise organised by the National Institute of Disaster Management in the Ministry of Home Affairs and district administration at Mangalore City Corporation hall on Monday.

Highlighting various loopholes in the Indian disaster response system, he said the lack of professional supply management, co-ordination issues, communication gaps, lack of clarity in delegation of power and poor documentation are the blockades in the effective implementation of disaster management in India.

He said that Dakshina Kannada district is listed in category 3 as far as the vulnerability to earthquake is concerned.

“It is the time for us to study and adopt the best of the disaster management practices that were taken up in the last few years. The identification of the sources of resources well-in-time during the occurrence of any incident is of great importance,” he said.

Stressing the need to strengthen the battalions functioning on disaster management, he said India at present has 10 battalions of National Disaster Response Force, with 1000 staff each.

The proposal is before the Central government to add two more battalions to strengthen the team, he said and added that according to the National Disaster Management Authority, every state should reserve a battalion to meet the emergency situations.

Earlier, inaugurating the training programme, Inspector General of Police (Western Range) Pratap Reddy too emphasised the need to strengthen disaster management system in Mangalore, specially as the city houses petro-chemical industries.

“The potentially dangerous petro-chemical industries may lead to once-in-a-life-time incident for which the authorities should be prepared any time,” he said.
Noting that the protocols to respond to the emergency situations in the nation is not in place, he said it was the duty of the people to co-operate during the time of disaster.