| Natural Disasters & Calamities cause widespread destruction, deaths and damage to property and infrastructure. Such Calamities in the past have once again highlighted the importance of disaster mitigation and management using modern technology. Monitoring natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, avalanches, cyclones, etc., with the ultimate aim of predicting them, and managing the rescue and rehabilitation operations during and after such calamities, have been discussed in various forums in the past. The devastating Latur earthquake of 1993, the Bhuj earthquake of 2001, the Orissa cyclone, and the recent tsunami after the Sumatra earthquake, which caused extensive damage in terms of human lives and property, have drawn the attention of the Indian scientific community to the immediate need of monitoring and managing such disasters in our country in the most effective, efficient and economic manner. Yet no technology would take the place of Rescue, Relief and Rehabilitation when such natural calamities strike.
These Rescue, Relief and Rehabilitation activities are of importance in natural calamities like Drought, Cyclone, Flood, Fire, Earthquake, Hailstorm, Tsunami, Cloud burst, Landslide, Avalanche and Pest attack.. The activities mainly includes
- To position in the calamity struck region to meet the contingencies arising out of the above calamities and to arrange relief measures
- To supervise and to provide funds for the rescue and relief operations.
- To monitor repair/restoration and rehabilitation work of the damaged properties and habitation.
- To undertake long-term measures by coordinating the activities of different NGOs, Government agencies etc in order to minimize the impact of natural calamities and human casualties.
- To monitor hunger and starvation due to food scarcity on account of any severe natural disaster and provide food to the needy.
|
