Srinagar, July 18, KDC: In an important step towards increasing disaster flexibility and preparations, the Center area of Jammu and Kashmir today operated a high-level workshop on the event response system (IRS).
The workshop included Chief Secretary, Atal Dullu, Principal Secretary Home and DMRR & R, Chandrakar Bharti, Senior Administrative Secretary, Divisional Commissioner, Head of Departments and Brigadier Kuldeep Singh (RETD), former Senior Advisor, Former Senior Advisor, Ministry of Home Affairs.
In his initial comments, the Chief Secretary underlined the significant importance of building a culture of disaster preparations between citizens and institutions. “Disasters often come without warning and in every such example, citizens are the first respondents,” he said. “Every competent person has a moral responsibility to contribute to disaster flexibility by being aware, ready and active.”
Highlighting the unique geopolitical and environmental weaknesses of Jammu and Kashmir, the Chief Secretary emphasized the UT’s sensitivity for UT’s earthquake, glacial lake outburst floods (globs), landslides, cross-border tension and climate-inspired challenges. “Given our risk for many dangers, our preparations should be universally, institutionally capable of sound and technically,” he said.
Dulloo stressed that the readiness of the disaster is measured not by paperwork but not by accountability of the system but by the number of life during the crisis. He said that increasing urbanization and climate change have increased the intensity and frequency of disasters, to decisively act on governments, institutions and citizens to work decisively.
He advocated a clear institutional structure with defined roles and responsibilities. He emphasized the use of active community engagement, NGO’s capacity building, civil society and local volunteers besides GIS mapping, real-time season forecast and drone-based monitoring. He also asked for integration of mid-career training for officers and regular mock drills to ensure readiness.
The Chief Secretary called for optimization of IRS protocols based on local risk profiles at the district and block levels. He proposed the development of a disaster dashboard to map the resources, machinery, manpower and weak areas available in UT.
In his inaugural address, Principal Secretary, Home and DMRR & R, Chandrakar Bharti described IRS as a new notified system in Jammu and Kashmir with the objective of establishing a well-coordinated command structure during disasters. He reported that IRS, adapted by modeling and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on international best practices, defines accurate roles for each officer to eliminate confusion during emergency.
Bharti highlighted the ongoing initiative under the Disaster Management Department, including the mitigation scheme for GLOFS and landslides, integration of India Disaster Resource Network (IDRN), deployment of decision support systems and setting up of Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
He expressed optimism about strengthening the disaster management system through these efforts and urged the authorities to institutionalize the disaster response protocol at all levels.
While providing a detailed presentation, a reputed disaster management specialist, Brigadier Kuldeep Singh (Rated) shared his insight on the defined responsibilities of various stakeholders during disaster typology, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and emergency situations. Drawing from the events of real -life disaster across India, he emphasized that “no field is immune for disasters”, and increased growth should go hand in hand with increased vigilance and responsibility.
Brigadier Singh emphasized the important roles of Central and UT governments, NDMA, SDMA, DDMA and block-level institutions in developing a spontaneous and scalable disaster response structure. He reiterated the need for integrated scheme, resource allocation and community-based preparations to make India one of the world’s most disaster-flexible countries.
Later, a comprehensive handbook was unveiled at the event response system (IRS), clearly depicted the roles and responsibilities of every officer and department involved in the disaster response.
At the central region level, the IRS is being led by the Chief Secretary, which serves as the response officer. The handbook also underlines the hierarchical structure, including the phenomenon commander, nodal officer, lion officer, planning, and designated roles for media communication systems, leading to a well -coordinated and structured mechanism institutional for disaster preparations and response in the UT. (KDC)