Havoc throws light on city's poor disaster management

PUNE: The Pune district administration on Tuesday admitted that the disaster management drills conducted by it annually were of a "diffused" nature, involving local bodies like the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).
There is no elaborate, co-ordinated drive involving the police, health department and other district authorities such as the PMC, fire brigade, Zilla Parishad and other agencies.
While Suhas Divse, resident deputy collector, Pune, said that a co-ordinated drill was not possible because of "logistical reasons", an IAS bureaucrat told TNN that such "diffused" drills were ineffective, adding that the collector''s powers had diminished substantially in the state.
Divse said the state government''s disaster management plan (DMP) aimed at better co-ordination between the various state and district authorities - the collectorate, municipal corporations, police, fire brigade, zilla parishads, gram panchayats and village level functionaries like gram sewaks - to meet emergencies.
He said the disaster management control room at the district collectorate has hotlines and video-conferencing facilities to connect the Pune district collectorate with the other collectorates in the state and the state secretariat.
He said that the DMPs were updated every year using the special software prepared by the Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (Yashada).
"In the recent flooding along the banks of the Mutha after water was released from the Khadakwasla dam, the district administration had swung into action. "Co-ordinated efforts by the PMC, police, irrigation department and the revenue officials ensured that there was no loss of life, as we evacuated around 3,500 people," Divse added.