Disaster management will be a daunting task for corp

Thiruvananthapuram: A rain-ravaged city is bracing for monsoon without a disaster management cell (DMC). The city DMC under the city corporation, set up as part of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has been shut down when its contract expired. The civic body which had approved purchase of equipment for emergency response in 2014 during the tenure of previous council failed to find suppliers for the equipment.
The city corporation had finalized project worth Rs 32 lakh as part of dealing with disasters. Most advanced rescue operations equipment like portable inflatable emergency lighting system (ASKA lights) which can illuminate a disaster hit area up to 10,000 sq m and hydraulic spreaders which are used for extricating crash victims during vehicle accidents and from crammed spaces were to be procured at a cost of Rs 17 lakh.
With monsoon expected in a week, the entire responsibility has fallen on fire force and district administration. The corporation's plan to set up an emergency operations centre (EOC) within the city disaster management cell did not materialise either.
The supply of equipment was halted as the corporation was forced to go for retender due to dearth of suppliers. "At present we have decided to give work order for a single company for purchasing a few equipment. The rest will be obtained through direct procurement from government agencies. We lost a great deal of time trying to find multiple suppliers," an official said.
Even if equipment are purchased, the corporation does not have trained personnel to manage the them and monitor emergency response. The official associated with city disaster management cell was withdrawn by UNDP with expiry of contract.
Palayam Rajan, former chairman, welfare committee, who had pitched the idea for purchase of equipment, said that the corporation will forward a letter to the state government seeking service of trained official to manage equipment.
The civic body had also allocated Rs 15 lakh for capacity building and training programmes to develop ward-level response teams. Almost a year after the project was finalised, not a single step has been taken so far. The council now has to approve recruiting a trained official to monitor disaster management activities which will cause further delay. Although this decision was taken two months ago, the corporation couldn't act on it due to election code of conduct.
Mayor V K Prashanth has already held meeting with officials to expedite the purchase of equipment, the official said.