A 10-year-old British girl, who was holidaying on a Thai beach with her parents, was the first one to spot a tsunami and helped her save about 100 tourists. This is a classic example of how simple geography lessons and safety mock drills can save not only yours but others lives, too, according to Manoj Kumar Singh, District Disaster Management Officer, Ranchi.
Singh has been working for the past 10 years to ensure all schools and hospitals are earthquake, fire and lightning safe all across the country and now, his next target is to ensure that in the city, too in the next three to four years.
“We have been working in different districts of several states in India to make schools and also hospitals fire, earthquake and lightning safe. We also aim to provide proper education about natural disasters and evacuation plans to children because in several incidents in the past, thousands of children have been killed due to the school’s unpreparedness. Now, we are trying to do the same in schools and hospitals in Ranchi and neighbouring areas by conducting awareness and mock drill training about the same and also ensuring the installation of fire safety. It’s must for schools to be earthquake-resistant and lightning safe,” said Singh.
Singh, highlighted the key points of the 15-day campaign that was kick-started on Monday at Marwadi High School in Upper Bazaar. “Every school in the city should be earthquake and lightning resistant. Fire safety has always been mandatory in all private and public buildings. Now, with a new initiative by the United Nations and Development Programme (UNDP) in association with government of Jharkhand, we will create awareness and also provide training and support to ensure safety of children and also the school’s preparedness for such natural disasters within next three to four years. The installation of safety equipment certainly increases the cost of construction of a building by about 10 per cent, but it’s definitely worth it,” said Singh.
The disaster management officer also reiterated the fact that Ranchi falls under Seismic Zone III, which can face earthquake of six and above on the Richter scale. “We all know Seismic Zone is only based on previous instances and does not indicate that a bigger disaster cannot strike the place. We should learn lessons from Bihar, Odisha, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala on how they have ensured safety of schools, offices and hospitals post major disasters that have hit them in the past. We should not just wait for something catastrophic to happen to make us stand up and plan these safety measures. Its better we start now and be ready and ensure our children are safe and prepared,” added Singh.