The disaster mismanagement cell
Heavy rains are an annual feature in Mumbai. So is the rush and tumble of the BMCto meet deadlines and fight that sinking feeling………Sandeep Ashar
Heavy rains are an annual feature in Mumbai. So is the rush and tumble of the BMCto meet deadlines and fight that sinking feeling………Sandeep Ashar
This monsoon, too, there will be days when you will have to wade through floodwaters as the city will not be able to escape flooding. The civic disaster management cell, which coordinates the mitigation and management of floods during monsoon, can only ensure quick retreat of rainwater. It cannot prevent flooding.
The failure to prevent a disaster has a lot to do with the politics within the cell, which has ensured that disaster operations are not being handled by the most experienced hands. Politicking has meant that officials who were trained in disaster management and possessed the ability to forewarn the civic body of a disaster have been shunted out, to be replaced by non-technical, inexperienced hands.
So, how does this affect disaster management? While you have the machinery to analyse and predict rainfall patterns at the time of heavy rains, the expertise needed to operate it efficiently has been sacrificed. The fact that the rejig was effected when the monsoon preparation was at its peak has not only left the cell in disarray, but has also created a feeling of dissatisfaction amongst its employees.
The cell is easily the most important point of contact for monsoon-related incidents. It coordinates disaster mitigation and management work between various agencies, besides forwarding citizens complaints to the authorities.
Among the many transfers effected were those of assistant engineer Amit Dave and safety officer Prasad Masurkar. Both had been trained in disaster mitigation and rescue and formed part of the core group of the disaster cell for the past two years. While Dave was instrumental in installing and calibrating weather stations at various places in the city and analysing the real-time rain data obtained from them, Masurkar would coordinate with resident groups, the fire brigade, and the police and organise mock disaster drills.
Besides the ability to analyse rain data, Dave makes predictions on heavy rain days months ahead of the monsoon. While his predictions have never been officially promoted, many in the civic ranks have used them to improve their performance. Masurkar, on the other hand, was the contact in the disaster management cell for many resident groups and instrumental in setting up citizens disaster management teams like the one at Pestom Sagar in Chembur.
One would imagine that after spending money to upgrading their skill set, those highly placed in the civic corporation would desist from transferring them. However, internal politics did them in.
Dave has been promoted and transferred to the water supply projects department at Powai while Masurkar has been posted as safety officer at the Deonar abattoir. In fact, acknowledging Daves skills, former additional municipal commissioner Shreekant Singh had offered to create a special post of deputy disaster chief for him in the department. After Singh was moved out as Konkan divisional commissioner, civic officials denied Dave the post.
Now, after his transfer, the post has been created and handed to Mahesh Narvekar, who until some months ago coordinated the passport and visa applications of civic officials and handled international public relations. Nobody has been recruited in Masurkars place.
While additional municipal commissioner Kishore Gajbhiye and deputy municipal commissioner SS Shinde oversee the cells operations, the day-to-day functioning is handled by Vilas Vaidya, former vigilance officer, who has been heading the cell since its inception. JD Naik, the new assistant engineer, had taken charge only a month ago and, by his own admission, is still learning the skills required to manage a disaster efficiently.
Interestingly, though the citys disaster cell has ousted him, Dave continues to function as a member of the core group of the flood management committee of the Delhi-based National Disaster Management Academy. Vilas Vaidya,Chief officer, Disaster Management Cell, said, The transfers were an administrative decision. I cannot comment on them.