The Doppler Radar, an early weather warning system, whose necessity was felt the most post natural calamity in Uttarakhand last year, is still missing from the disaster management radar of the State Government which was only caught napping when the Himalayan Tsunami was inflicting the irreparable damage to the hill state .
As the experts maintain, precaution is the only reliable measure that can help minimise the impact of a natural calamity in a scientifically prepared environment.
In that direction putting in place Doppler Radar was need of the hour at least to be on the guard. But to have that kind of precautionary measure is still a distant dram for the State Government. The fact of the matter is that the State Government has not done anything to put in place an early weather warning system except arranging some piece of land for this purpose as of now. We have now been able to find piece of land for setting up the early weather warning system, said Piyush Rautela, Executive Director, Disaster Minimisaton and Management Center (DMMC), Uttarakhand, while talking to The Pioneer in an exclusive interview.
But procurement and installation of the said early weather warning system have to be done by the Meteorological Department, Government of India, he added. However, the matter of concern is that even if the State Government or the agencies concerned seriously work for putting in place the early weather warning system, this would be possible now only in the next financial year, as the officials concerned hinted.
In that case the State Government is now in the same position as it was a year ago in the absence of early weather warning system. The land has been identified at Mussorie and Nainital for setting up the Doppler Radars, as the officials concerned said.
It is worth mention here that demand or necessity for having a state of the art early weather warning system is not new for a state like Uttarakhand given its sensitiveness to natural calamities as have been witnessed over the years in one part or the other of the state.
The basic purpose of putting in place early weather warning system was only to make the people alert in advance so that at least lives could be saved and necessary preventive measures could be taken to deal with any eventuality.
But the same lackadaisical approach of the State Government has again come in the way of its preparedness to take on natural disaster. That is why it is the fact that Uttarakhand is still lagging behind in countering the natural calamity scientifically.
At the same time, the social conscience keepers here are of the view that keeping in view the previous record if the State Government takes about 13 years to find a piece of land to set up early weather warning system, it would not be exaggerating to say if it takes another a decade or so to put in place the Doppler Radar.
So if the victims of the Himalayan Tsunami of the previous year are still not feeling safe in the hands of the State Government, they have reasons to think so.
Chief Minister Harish Rawat who started his inning as head of the State Government from the Kedar Valley about four month ago must be trying to reach out to the disaster victims to bring their lives back on track, but 'ill-preparedness' on part of the State Government in dealing with the natural calamities that cost his predecessor Vijay Bahuguna his chair, is still a matter of concern.
It is worth mention here that natural disasters are not new to the people of Uttarakhand particularly for those who are still living in areas which are considered to be vulnerable from natural disaster point of view.
But a sense of security can be instilled in their minds only by putting in place reliable scientific measures to deal with calamities; not by making only public overtures as the State Government is doing nowadays.