Disaster management programme in Jharkhand is too limited to term it comprehensive enough to deal with disaster of high magnitude. The State which is vulnerable to as many as nine disasters is prone to greater danger-lethargy on managing disaster.
Jharkhand faces threat from drought, earthquake, deforestation, floods, mining hazards, forest fires, bio-diversity and epidemics. A disaster management programme was drawn in the year 2010 for dealing with disasters in the State however the pace of implementation has still to go beyond training and awareness.
“We had framed a disaster management programme in 2010 however it is being implemented at a slow pace,” said D Kumar of disaster management cell at SKIPA. The disaster management department is itself in distress after the term of its former secretary MN Kerketta expired on in the mid of June. Kerketta was made in-charge of the department for five years.
Interestingly, 3D mapping of Ranchi, an ambitious plan to help in disaster management in the city is gathering dust at an unknown location in the government’s corridor. The plan which will cost around Rs 50 crore will provide real-time input of any place in the capital thus helping in effective search & rescue operation in the event of any disaster.
However, experts of the subject rue that the disaster management needs to shift from the search & rescue mode of management to a planning in advance. “We need to shift the focus from the current style of management which is more reactionary in nature,” added Kumar. According to Kumar, the State badly needs an early warning system to avoid loss of lives in the event of a catastrophe.