Samprati Motghare
IIM graduate, Batch of 2014
According to the United Nations, a disaster is a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society. Disasters involve widespread human, material, economic or environmental impacts, which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources.
West Bengal, because of its unique topography and climatic conditions faces a threat of natural disasters like earthquakes, and landslides in its northern part, along with threats of floods and cyclones in its Gangetic plains region. An efficient administrative setup accompanied by long-term vision is required to mitigate the risks and the new state government has been successful in delivering that.
Implementation of DM ACT, 2005: The state has constituted all the bodies, namely, State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), State Executive Committee (SEC) and State Advisory Committee (SAC), as recommended under the act. Several states like Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Odisha, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, still have not constituted all the bodies. SEC which monitors the implementation of National and State plans and acts as a liaison with the National Disaster Management Authority has met 97 times since its constitution, which is significantly higher than other states.
Infrastructural preparedness: Warnings related to any disaster can now be sent to every mobile phone user in the state with a new SMS service. A 24X7 Emergency Operation Centre has become functional at Nabanna, which will remain open throughout the year with another centre at New Delhi to help citizens staying outside state in case of any emergency. Out of 307 multi-purpose cyclone and flood shelters, around 107 have already been constructed in past 34 months. Disaster Management Family Kits are being distributed in the disaster prone areas to equip people with measures to face disasters.
Training: Disaster Response Teams have been constituted with 800 specially trained police personnel and these teams have been posted all the major locations across the state. At district level, Quick Response Teams with well-equipped special cars have been constituted to combat any emergency situation. Around 7,000 youth volunteers have been trained with flood rescue and relief rescue, which will assist at the district level.
Spreading awareness: National School Security Program (NSSP) has been initiated in the earthquake prone regions of the state to ensure safety of children who are the most vulnerable in cases of disaster. In Kolkata alone 424 teachers from KMC primary schools and Shishu Shiksha Kendra have been made aware of vulnerability of West Bengal and Kolkata City. Traditional methods like calendars, booklets, wall-paintings, banners, street-theatre, radio and TV advertisements etc. are also being used extensively.
Immediate relief: Although, no amount of compensation or relief can match the price of a life lost due to any calamity, the state government believes a quick disbursement of compensation and relief materials do help the effected family to cope with the situation. West Bengal is the only state that provides Rs 1 lakh to the family of the deceased person who dies from snakebite. Government job and Rs 3 lakh have been provided to each family whose relatives died in the AMRI hospital fire accident. A total amount of Rs 250 crore has been disbursed to 3 lakh families affected due to natural calamities and fire accident.
Parting thought
The state government has also played its part during national calamities like Uttarakhand flash foods and Cyclone Phailin. Around 4,000 persons were rescued and transported to their homes by West Bengal government during the flash floods in Uttarakhand and 75,000 tarpaulins along with several quantities of food items were distributed in Odisha during Cyclone Phailin disaster. West Bengal also came forward to help its neighbour Sikkim during the earthquake in 2011.
IIM graduate, Batch of 2014
According to the United Nations, a disaster is a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society. Disasters involve widespread human, material, economic or environmental impacts, which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources.
West Bengal, because of its unique topography and climatic conditions faces a threat of natural disasters like earthquakes, and landslides in its northern part, along with threats of floods and cyclones in its Gangetic plains region. An efficient administrative setup accompanied by long-term vision is required to mitigate the risks and the new state government has been successful in delivering that.
Implementation of DM ACT, 2005: The state has constituted all the bodies, namely, State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), State Executive Committee (SEC) and State Advisory Committee (SAC), as recommended under the act. Several states like Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Odisha, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, still have not constituted all the bodies. SEC which monitors the implementation of National and State plans and acts as a liaison with the National Disaster Management Authority has met 97 times since its constitution, which is significantly higher than other states.
Infrastructural preparedness: Warnings related to any disaster can now be sent to every mobile phone user in the state with a new SMS service. A 24X7 Emergency Operation Centre has become functional at Nabanna, which will remain open throughout the year with another centre at New Delhi to help citizens staying outside state in case of any emergency. Out of 307 multi-purpose cyclone and flood shelters, around 107 have already been constructed in past 34 months. Disaster Management Family Kits are being distributed in the disaster prone areas to equip people with measures to face disasters.
Training: Disaster Response Teams have been constituted with 800 specially trained police personnel and these teams have been posted all the major locations across the state. At district level, Quick Response Teams with well-equipped special cars have been constituted to combat any emergency situation. Around 7,000 youth volunteers have been trained with flood rescue and relief rescue, which will assist at the district level.
Spreading awareness: National School Security Program (NSSP) has been initiated in the earthquake prone regions of the state to ensure safety of children who are the most vulnerable in cases of disaster. In Kolkata alone 424 teachers from KMC primary schools and Shishu Shiksha Kendra have been made aware of vulnerability of West Bengal and Kolkata City. Traditional methods like calendars, booklets, wall-paintings, banners, street-theatre, radio and TV advertisements etc. are also being used extensively.
Immediate relief: Although, no amount of compensation or relief can match the price of a life lost due to any calamity, the state government believes a quick disbursement of compensation and relief materials do help the effected family to cope with the situation. West Bengal is the only state that provides Rs 1 lakh to the family of the deceased person who dies from snakebite. Government job and Rs 3 lakh have been provided to each family whose relatives died in the AMRI hospital fire accident. A total amount of Rs 250 crore has been disbursed to 3 lakh families affected due to natural calamities and fire accident.
Parting thought
The state government has also played its part during national calamities like Uttarakhand flash foods and Cyclone Phailin. Around 4,000 persons were rescued and transported to their homes by West Bengal government during the flash floods in Uttarakhand and 75,000 tarpaulins along with several quantities of food items were distributed in Odisha during Cyclone Phailin disaster. West Bengal also came forward to help its neighbour Sikkim during the earthquake in 2011.
