NEW DELHI: Cities being developed in coastal states as 'Smart Cities' under the Prime Minister's flagship programme must be disaster resilient, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has told the government after a 10-month-long study on the Cyclone HudHud which had created wide-scale destruction in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
In a report titled 'Strategies and Lessons for preparing better and strengthening risk resilience in coastal regions of India', DMA explains how the 'eye' of the 2014 HudHud cyclone lay exactly over the Vishakapatnam city and caused widespread damage to property and natural resources though lot of lives were saved given advance preparations made.
"The smart cities being built and many more cities/towns which are coming up or located in the vulnerable coastal areas, need to be designed and built based on multi hazard resilient features. The smart cities and other cities being developed in coastal areas through Central Assistance must have a component of disaster management plan integrated with district disaster management plan," the NDMA has now recommended to the Urban Development Ministry. The NDMA has further proposed the concept of' Early Warning to the Last Mile' to save lives.
"On receipt of information from Indian Meteorological Department of the approaching cyclone, the State Emergency Operation Centre would immediately through a web based early warning dissemination system send warning from Chief Secretary/Chief Minister right up to the last mile i.e. people living in far flung coastal areas and to fishermen through their mobiles or other systems so installed. This will help the people to become vigilant 48-72 hours before the landfall of cyclone and either shift to safer places such as Multipurpose Cyclone Shelters or to move to areas within the state which are not likely to be affected by cyclone," the report says. It has also proposed that a database be prepared of pregnant women in their 4th trimester be to shift them to emergency care in hospitals before the cyclone strikes.
source: indiatimes.com