Chairing a meet of the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) on Tuesday, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat directed officials to facilitate training of local residents, especially the youth in areas vulnerable to disasters. The training should be given at regular intervals while attempts should also be made to minimise the response time in case of disaster.
Alternate routes should be facilitated in areas highly vulnerable from the disaster point of view. Officials should also ensure whether the road cutting has been done properly in new roads being constructed.
The Chief Minister directed officials concerned that all departments should assess the damage caused in the monsoon and provide details to disaster management department by October 5 so that the assessment can be made and forwarded to the Government of India on time.
It should also be ascertained whether forest roads are in a proper condition in areas vulnerable to disaster. Further, forest guards should also be trained to tackle disaster scenarios.
School teachers should also be trained in disaster management so that they in turn teach students which in turn will ensure that children are aware of the basics of dealing with disaster scenarios from their student days.
USDMA officials informed in the meeting that for accurate information related to the weather, Doppler radars will be set up at Mukteshwar and Surkanda Devi by the end of this financial year.
In addition to this, the meteorological department is conducting a survey to ascertain the feasibility of setting up a third Doppler radar in Lansdowne.
The officials further informed that till now 7,766 Mahila Mangal Dal and 5,968 Yuvak Mangal Dal have been trained in search and rescue during disaster scenarios.
In order to strengthen meteorological forecasts, 107 automated weather stations, 28 automated rain gauges and 16 automated snow gauges have been set up with the assistance of Indian Meteorological Department. Arrangements are also being made to use sirens to relay warning to the general public on the basis of warning issued by the earthquake early warning system established in the State.
For this purpose, a total of 68 sirens have been placed in the urban areas of Dehradun and Haldwani apart form the state and district emergeny operation centres. The mobile phone application prepared by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee for issuing earthquake warning is being tested at present.
A total of 184 satellite phones are available at the Tehsil level for alternate communication facility, informed the officials.
They further informed that 80 people had died and 80 were injured in the State during the monsoon so far.
The damage caused during the monsoon has been assessed at Rs 228.98 crore so far. Cabinet Ministers Satpal Maharaj, Yashpal Arya, chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh and other officials concerned were also present in the meeting.