The study, a pilot of which will be first conducted in Pune, Satara and Raigad, will cover the extent of likely damages and ease deployment of resources to combat accidents, including industrial and chemical ones and their fallout.
The Maharashtra government is embarking on a hazard vulnerability risk assessment (HVRA) study to map the likelihood of natural and manmade disasters in the state.
The study, a pilot of which will be first conducted in Pune, Satara and Raigad, will cover the extent of likely damages and ease deployment of resources to combat accidents, including industrial and chemical ones and their fallout.
Maharashtra is no stranger to such disasters, having suffered the debilitating Latur earthquake in 1993, which led to almost 8,000 deaths, the 1967 Koyna earthquake, terror strikes including the 26/11 attacks and repeated floods and droughts.
A state government official said that the HVRA study, the request for proposals (RFP) for which will be issued soon, will study the likely locations and possible damage from these disasters, topography, population, the social and economic status of the population, physical conditions, history of previous disasters and sites like dams and industries. This data will be put on a digital platform using GIS maps and a risk and hazard atlas will be prepared.
"The resource mapping will also be conducted and these support systems (to combat these mishaps) will also be put on the GIS maps. This will help us make decisions very effectively," said the official.
The RFP for the pilot will be floated in a month's time. It will take around six months to complete the data collection, analysis and digitisation in these three districts.
"Pilots in districts at satara, Raigad and Pune will be conducted," said the official, adding that the last time this exercise was conducted was in 1993. "But, there is a technical difference between then and now. Then, there were no systems like GIS... and hence, it is necessary to do this again," he added, stating that they were in talks with agencies like the UNDP.
While Satara has been chosen for its seismic vulnerability and the location of the Koyna dam, which has seen earthquakes in the past, Raigad in the Konkan has a high number of chemical industries and has been hit by floods and landslides. Pune, a fast growing urban agglomeration, too has a number of industries.
The state cabinet has also approved the establishment of two companies State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) on lines of the NDRF. These personnel for this specialised force which is meant to respond to disaster situations, will be drawn from the SRPF. It will have six teams of 45 personnel in each (three in each company).
While around 1,000 people from Maharashtra were in Nepal at the time of the earthquake, around 194 have been evacuated so far, with about 800 still awaiting their rescue.
Though not even a single death from Maharashtra has been reported in Nepal, around 40 people from districts like Mumbai, Nanded, Buldhana, Nagpur, Dhule, Aurangabad have gone incommunicado. However, the official added that in case these people returned home or contacted their families, their relatives did not inform the state government at times.
HAM radios are also being used to communicate with the authorities in Nepal. The state has arranged for 61 of them to be housed at Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi and will also make arrangements for these people to be brought back to Maharashtra from Delhi.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}