MARGAO, OCT 22
The District Disaster Management Authority will have a second mock drill to test the preparedness of stake holders to tackle chemical disasters in South Goa, but basic infrastructures such as a dedicated heavy duty crane to lift ill-fated chemical tankers and fire fighting equipments are yet to fall in place.
Senior specialist (Training & Capacity Development) National Disaster Management Authority Brig Dr B K Khanna told newsmen after a day-long conference on orientation cum coordination for the stake holders that the mock drill will be held in December this year to assess the preparedness of the stake holders.
“The response from the stake holders was quite good during the last exercise. They had come prepared for the mock drill. But, since the drill was announced in advance, we have now decide to hold a surprise drill anytime in December to check the level of preparedness”, he added.
Khanna suggested that the pharmaceutical companies located in South Goa should also be brought under the exercise as they are also considered hazardous. The mock drill for north Goa district will be held at a later date.
Replying to a question, he said the district disaster authority has identified various gaps in the preparedness of the stakeholders, adding that recommendations have been made to the concerned departments for follow up action.
“Our motto is zero tolerance towards chemical accidents. There should not be any more Bhopal gas tragedy or the Jaipur tragedy”, he said.
When newsmen drew his attention to the fact that the state government has no dedicated crane to lift ill-fated hazardous tankers from the NH-17 in times of accidents, he strongly recommended that the authorities take up the matter with the government. “Under the disaster management plan, states are required to have detection vehicles to take care of disasters”, he added.
A district disaster management official, Ashutosh Apte said the authority has undertaken an exercise to find out from the RTO offices the number of heavy duty cranes registered with the department to use their services in times of emergencies.
Khanna evaded a reply when newsmen pointed out that the south Goa Disaster Management Authority has done nothing to improve the infrastructure and has only procured vehicles for its officials.
