IIMA drafts disaster control plan

Project to be used as future roadmap for Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority

The Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad (IIM-A) is drafting a project on disaster management, which would be used as the future roadmap for the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA).

The Centre, following the recent tsunami attacks, had announced plans to set up a national disaster management authority in line with GSDMA.

A two-member IIM-A team comprising Indira Parikh, dean, and N Venkatashwaran, senior faculty member would decide the future roadmap for GSDMA and inputs from the IIMA report would be used by the Centre to draft its national disaster management authority.

The IIM-A team had recently visited the earthquake-ravaged Kutch district in Gujarat to take stock of the rehabilitation work done by GSDMA. The earthquake in 2000 had killed over 15,000 people in the state.

"We are preparing a report which may take six weeks from now to decide the future roadmap for GSDMA and also a better way to handle disasters and subsequent relief works. We are impressed with the kind of work carried out by GSDMA in relocating villagers and rebuilding devastated villages in Gujarat. However, we found that the houses constructed as part of the rehabilitation projects lack colour, and small but important issues like this are to be handled cautiously," said Parikh, who has been heading the IIMA team, on Tuesday.

She said the tsunami attack on December 26 and the earthquake in Gujarat five years back had taught lessons to the government, which urgently should activate a national disaster management authority to handle such incidents in the future.

"We also observed that there is hardly any proper crisis management course being taught in educational institutions in India and IIM-A may consider introducing a course on crisis management, especially for corporates. We may even add a new module on crisis management in our existing syllabus for graduating students. People working hands-on in various segments of disaster management also should come forward in this direction, while IIM-A may join in conceptualising such course or module," she said.

However, a decision in this regard would be taken only at the next meeting of the board of governors of the institute, due in March.

Meanwhile, the Gujarat government has sought the help of IIM-A for deciding the best practices to be adopted by the institutions engaged in disaster management activities.

Joint chief executive officer of GSDMA, V Thirupuggaz, reacting on the development, said, "We are awaiting the report from IIM-A which should be ready in the next couple of months. We will decide the future course after this."

GSDMA has also started sharing its expertise with the Tamil Nadu Government and Andaman & Nicobar Islands Administration as GSDMA teams have met top officials in the administrations of both the tsunami-hit areas.

"The directions of the IIMA would also help us to work closely with the ministry of home affairs in the state government to provide it inputs for creating the national disaster management authority," he said.

GSDMA, in the last five years, had reconstructed 10,98.827 houses in the earthquake-affected areas of Gujarat, apart from its tasks including reconstruction of schools and public amenities.