Goa’s disaster management is a disaster

the goan I network

PANAJI 

More than five months after the Government promised to review its disaster preparedness and draft a new set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) in the wake of the storm surges that damaged shacks and other infrastructure on the beach, very little has moved on that front with the Revenue Minister Rohan Khaunte saying the tender for a company to draw up the plans would be issued soon.   

The Revenue Department, the offices of the two district collectors is responsible for the preparing disaster management plans for the two districts.   

The high energy surges and swell waves that have seen water levels rise along the coastline has rekindled the debate over Goa’s preparedness to face any eventuality especially if disaster comes from the sea.   

The government has already initiated steps to formulate a disaster management mechanism. Various parameters such as selection of manpower, equipment, etc will have to be taken care of for which a contractor is required. The tender for the appointment of a contractor for this purpose will be released by the end of this week and the name of the contractor will be finalised by mid-May,” Revenue Minister Rohan Khaunte said.   

Back in December last year, when the waters threatened to wash away shacks, the Chief Minister, as well as Revenue Minister, had promised to revamp the mechanisms to ensure that in the event of any such incident, the response would be quicker.   

Back then, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had said the setting up of an independent disaster management mechanism is under process and would be completed by March. “Discussions have already taken place. People are already working to set it up,” he said.   

“It was discussed at a meeting and the revenue minister has been asked to frame standard operating procedures for the same,” the chief minister had said.   

He said that basic problem is that those persons who tackle disasters may also be the ones facing the brunt of the disaster. “Hence, we need a completely independent disaster management mechanism,” Parrikar had said.   

When it was pointed out to Khaunte that there was very little progress in the work, he insisted that the government was serious about the issue.   

“The government is very serious about placing the disaster management mechanism in place. Though there has been a slight delay the work is going on as per the directions of Chief Minister in the right spirit,” Khaunte said.   

In December last year, Khaunte had admitted that there were lacunae in the State Government’s response to the ‘disaster’.   

“Though we have dedicated cells under the disaster management plan, they have never actually been grouped. North and South Goa Collectors are the nodal officers but they don’t have a system of standard operating procedures and we need to frame them properly,” Khaunte had said.   

“I think that a strong disaster management plan in Goa should be in place so as to take preventive measures. After the formation of this government, we have already started studying and creating system operating procedures (SOPs) for the disaster management. Parrikar had asked to work on SOPs for disaster management and work on the same has already begun,” Khaunte had said.