Disaster management will soon slip into professional hands in the country.
To begin with, the National Disaster Management Authority has unravelled a 13-point plan for flood management. It includes making disaster management part of the educational curriculum.
The guidelines will act as the base for the central and the state governments while preparing their flood management plans. The disaster management panel has formulated a three-phased strategy. Identification and marking of flood-prone areas, expansion and modernisation of flood forecasting and warning systems would be part of the plan.
All such schemes will be implemented in the second phase and the final phase would include activities such as inspection of dams, embankments and other structural measures.
The phase one work will commence immediately and will be carried out in a time-bound manner, former Gen NC Vij, the vice-chairman of the disaster management authority told the Hindustan Times on the sidelines of a function to announce the guidelines.
Some of the phase one measures also include fresh assessmentin the areas suffering from drainage congestion and introducing it as a subject in schools, defence forces and administrative training institutes.
Vij rued that the past flood management plans had suffered because of lack of coordination among the states.
{{/usCountry}}Vij rued that the past flood management plans had suffered because of lack of coordination among the states.
{{/usCountry}}Similar views were echoed by water resources minister Saifuddin Soz, who advocated the need for greater coordination among various departments and ministries working on disaster management at the central level.
He said the disaster control panel should have considered the impact of climate change when planning strategies on flood management.