Natural disaster management plan to be ready soon….Sudhir Suryawanshi
Natural disasters like earthquake cannot be prevented or predicted, but measures are required to be taken to reduce the extent of damage. To cope with such calamities in a better manner, the civic bodys disaster risk management master plan will be ready in three months. It will be scientifically prepared for better disaster management.
The BMC has involved 105 city stakeholders, including Mhada, MMRDA, the city police, civil defence officials, navy officials and the traffic police, to assess the city infrastructures resilience. Panel experts will give recommendations that will be incorporated by the various government bodies while developing the infrastructure.
According to senior civic officials, they have been working on the disaster master plan for a year now. We are studying each citys infrastructure, how much danger it is in during natural calamities and how to tackle any disaster , said SS Shinde, joint municipal commissioner (disaster).
He added, People are least bothered about calamities and are not prepared. But we cannot wait for disasters to strike and then initiate preparedness measures. After preparing this master plan, the BMC has decided to focus on public participation while dealing with disaster and rescuing people. Public involvement is must; otherwise, the plan will have zero value, said a senior civic official.
Since 2005, the BMC has been asking developers to construct seismic-proof buildings. But, hardly anyone is following it. Now, it will be up to the citizens to ensure their safety.