*Emergency Operation Centres only in 2 distts
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, May 27: Though panic has gripped the entire State following findings of Oregan University that huge magnitude earthquake may rattle Jammu and Kashmir, the State Government has remained ill-prepared to deal with such a disaster as no seriousness has so far been shown to implement the State Disaster Management Plan and all the concerned departments/stakeholders are sleeping over the role they were required to perform so as to minimize the impact of any natural calamity.
The scientists of Oregan University have found that the Reasi fault has been building up pressure for some time and when it does release or slip the resulting earthquake may be large as much as magnitude of 8.0 or greater.
The report has generated such a panic that even the Governor N N Vohra has asked the Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti to take time-bound steps to reduce earthquake vulnerability. Even the NDMA Member also called on Chief Minister to discuss the serious issue.
“However, the fact is that J&K remains ill-prepared to deal with natural calamities particularly the earthquake as no seriousness has been shown at any level in the State administration to take preventive measures so as to minimize the loss of lives and property in any disaster”, official sources told EXCELSIOR.
Following devastating floods of September 2014, the State found it imperative to have comprehensive Disaster Management Plan and accordingly Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai was engaged for the task. The Plan prepared by this reputed institute was approved by the then Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in a high-level meeting on July 31, 2015 with the explicit directions to all the concerned Government departments to immediately initiate steps to carry out the activities identified in the Plan.
However, the State Disaster Management Plan, which covers the entire range of disaster management and disaster risk reduction and recovery activities, has remained only on paper as for majority of the departments disaster management is not an important subject despite the fact that J&K has suffered immense loss due to natural calamity during the past some years and entire State is predominantly located in Seismic Zone V.
In the Disaster Management Plan enough thrust has been laid on establishment of Emergency Operation Centres (EOCs) in all the districts of Jammu and Kashmir as these centres play an important role in effectively and efficiently coordinating multi-agency, inter-Governmental responses to disaster events.
These centres not only assemble resources for an incident scene but also command responsibilities associated with decisions taken towards threat abatement and deploying agencies and personnel.
But such centres have only been established in Jammu and Udhampur districts albeit not of the required level for want of funds and other paraphernalia, sources said, adding in other districts of the State such centres have yet not come up despite lapse of several months since the approval of the Disaster Management Plan.
A senior officer of the Relief and Rehabilitation Department, when contacted, confirmed that no district is having full-fledged and fully equipped Emergency Operation Centre.
It is pertinent to mention here that State Executive Committee headed by Chief Secretary in its meeting on February 7, 2014 had given nod for establishment of four Emergency Operation Centres—one each in Jammu, Srinagar, Leh and Kargil. It was also decided in the meeting that such centres in remaining districts of the State would be established during the next financial year—2015-16. Thereafter, in the middle of 2015, the then Minister for Relief and Rehabilitation, Basharat Bukhari had also issued directions for establishment of EOCs in the districts.
“But the ground situation clearly indicates that disaster management is not an important issue at any level in the State”, sources regretted.
In the State Disaster Management Plan, it has been mentioned that developmental authorities/Municipal Bodies would ensure strict regulation of land use, notify risk prone areas by micro-zonation, stop unplanned and adhoc developmental activities in the State, review and amend planning and development laws, strict regulation of building bye-laws, amend these laws to ensure construction of earthquake resilient buildings, conduct audit of buildings and retrofit old and weak buildings.
But none of the developmental authority and Municipal Body has laid focus on these vital aspects so far as if the Disaster Management Plan was prepared to be kept in the shelves of the offices as decorative piece, sources rued.
Similarly, the district level administration was required to assess the status of risk and vulnerability of the existing built environment, establish committee for safety audit and suggest seismic retrofitting of buildings and develop an inventory of existing built environment in areas around existing landslides and in high hazard zones. But all these activities have remained confined to the document till date, sources said.
“The Geology and Mining Department, which was supposed to carry out activity with regard to delineation of earthquake and landslide zones and establish seismological network with stakeholders and apply sensing technologies for monitoring landslide movements, has not come out of the deep slumber till date”, sources said.
Similar is the response of Jammu and Kashmir Project Construction Corporation, Public Works and Revenue Departments, which had to develop building by-laws keeping in view potential hazards like earthquake, carry out safety audit of all critical life line infrastructures, coordinate in issuing land use regulations and guidelines taking into account the potential hazard and construction of disaster shelter and disaster management stores etc.
The Science and Technology Department had the mandate to design earthquake resistant model houses tested through simulated environments and identify the indigenous/local practices that strengthen the resilience of structures and adopting it with the new technology for its sustainability. But it has yet not initiated any single step in this direction, sources informed.
Follow our WhatsApp channel