Team Herald
PANJIM: In probably a first in the country, the Directorate of Fire & Emergency Services’ (DFES) LiveCall app has been a boom for the disaster management teams in the State with successful enforcement during Cyclone Tauktae and monsoon floods.
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In the forefront of rescue missions, the department decided to undertake technological research in various domains of Information & Technology, Communication & Data Analysis. In February 2021, the Directorate created ‘Automated Dynamic Live calls and Statistical Dashboard’, as a part of populating a set of reports of Fire and Emergency calls attended, along with summary, trends and thermal mapping. This has helped the Department in understanding the requirement of resources depending on the season type of incidents arising in the locations.
Director Ashok Menon said this is a step towards being IT-enabled. “Previously, we would send updates to the newspapers in a situation report and with the new app, we can pull it out. It is a step towards being IT-enabled. Our team has worked hard on this app and we are working better to ensure that the public get the updates on the dash board. It is a proactive step towards transparency,” he said while speaking to Herald.
As per a report prepared by the communication section of DFES Headquarters, the Automated Dynamic Live Calls & Statistical data includes Methodology (definitions that help in the management of data), Database with flexible structure and Database input for software.
“The Live Calls Public Advisory is a mechanism of notifying in real time information relating to fire and emergency incidents to all the stakeholders in order to tackle and mitigate disasters effectively and minimize damages caused thereof. The alerts are available on the official portal of DFES, SMS, Email, Whatsapp and through (Android) App notifications as the users can pick the communication mode that suits them best,” it said.
The India Meteorological Department, District Disaster Management Cell, media and the general public are the stakeholders.
“LiveCalls gives details of hazards that take place. This source of information is used for Impact Verification,” IMD In-charge Rahul said. The weather updates followed by consequences such as high sea level, felling of trees/branches, uprooting of electrical poles, water logging (calls of which are made to Fire Control Room), etc during the Cyclone Tauktae and floods were verified by the concerned authorities.
Stakeholder benefits, as explained in the report are that the Station Fire Officers are immediately notified of all calls while the Zonal Officers are also kept in the loop and on standby. The workload of the station can be assessed by graphically viewing the current incidents on a map and public can use the information to check for any disasters in the locality / enroute and plan accordingly. “The benefit of this real-time information is to make it available to the public at large, information regarding incidents, which has the potential to disrupt normal functioning of various services. This would help the community to take appropriate preparatory steps,” it said
