Funds constraints to delay creation of addl SDRF battalions
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Nov 30: Despite being aware of the fact that Jammu and Kashmir has a long history of disasters and is still prone to natural calamities, several Government departments are soft-paddling on implementation of key decisions of State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) headed by Chief Minister. Moreover, there is no proper liaison between the Authority and the departments, which otherwise is imperative for taking adequate disaster mitigation measures in a time bound manner.
The State Disaster Management Authority in its 6th meeting held under the chairpersonship of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on August 16, 2017 deliberated upon various aspects of disaster mitigation and the role required to be played by the Government departments.
In the meeting, Chief Minister approved a token amount of Rs 25 crore as State Disaster Mitigation Fund and it was decided that an amount of Rs 1 crore will be placed at the disposal of each Deputy Commissioner for utilization under District Disaster Mitigation Fund.
It was explicitly stated in the meeting that 50% of the funds will be utilized by the Deputy Commissioners for critical rescue equipments, 20% for capacity building, 20% for innovative projects involving community based disaster preparedness projects and 10% for IEC activities.
“Initially an amount of Rs 50 lakh was placed at the disposal of each Deputy Commissioner as against the decision of Rs 1 crore but later this amount (Rs 50 lakh) was also withdrawn from all the Deputy Commissioners without assigning any reason”, official sources told EXCELSIOR while disclosing that at present majority of the Deputy Commissioners don’t have funds for carrying out any disaster mitigation activity.
When contacted, a number of Deputy Commissioners told EXCELSIOR on the condition of anonymity that they have not been given funds for any of the activity which was decided in the meeting of the SDMA. “Whatever exercise vis-à-vis awareness being conducted in the districts is through internal arrangements only”, they added.
“In the meeting it was also decided that Health and Medical Education Department will conduct risk assessment of medical and trauma care facilities to minimize damages in the event of disasters but there is no discernible progress in this regard till date”, sources informed, adding “no doubt fire safety audit was conducted in respect of certain health institutions that too in the urban areas but there was no risk assessment”.
The intensity of the non-seriousness of the Health and Medical Education Department towards this vital aspect can be gauged from the fact that some senior officers of the department when contacted by EXCELSIOR expressed ignorance about any decision regarding risk assessment. “May be some exercise has been conducted at the Administrative Department level but we are aware of the only one aspect and that is fire safety audit in urban areas of the State”, they added.
Pointing towards the decision of SDMA regarding creation of two additional battalions of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), sources said, “following the in-principle approval to the proposal of Additional Director General of Police, Civil Defence, Home Guards and SDRF in the meeting held on August 16, 2017 the Finance Department was approached for concurrence keeping in view the fact that huge funds are required for translating this decision into reality”.
However, the Finance Department has yet not conveyed its decision. “The constraints of the funds may lead to further delay in arriving at any decision by the Finance Department”, sources said.
They further informed that even Roads and Buildings and Power Development Departments have yet not completed the task assigned by the Chief Minister while chairing the SDMA meeting. “While R&B Department has yet not come up with plans for flood mitigation on scientific lines the Power Development Department has failed to create a pool of heavy-duty generators which could immediately be put to use in case of any major power break-down/failure due to disaster”, sources said.
“Similarly, there is no discernible progress on satellite linking of the cellular telephone towers so as to ensure uninterrupted communication during any disaster although the matter was discussed by the Principal Secretary Home Department with the cellular service providers”, sources said.
They informed that departments have yet not started keeping proper liaison with the State Disaster Management Authority despite being aware of the fact that coordination is imperative in the disaster mitigation process.
It is pertinent to mention here that J&K has a long history of natural disasters ranging from catastrophic earthquakes to destructive floods, snow blizzards to avalanches, landslides to wind storms owing to its peculiar topography, rugged terrain, extreme weather conditions and unique geographical and geo-climatic settings. The last major natural calamity was witnessed in 2014 which ravaged major parts of State particularly Kashmir valley.
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