किसी भी आपदा के बाद औपचारिक प्रतिवादन बलों (formal response forces) को घटनास्थल तक पहुँचने में समय लगता है और मौसम व सम्पर्क की जटिलता के आधार पर यह समय कम या ज्यादा हो सकता है। ऐसे में ज्यादातर स्थितियों में प्राथमिक प्रतिवादन (first response) घटनास्थल के समीप स्थित समुदायों के साथ-साथ पुलिस, अग्नि शमन व स्थानीय प्रशासन के द्वारा ही किया जाता है।
ऐसे में यदि आपदा के कारण प्राथमिक प्रतिवादन के लिये उत्तरदायी यह विभाग ही अक्षम हो जाये या फिर औपचारिक प्रतिवादन बलों को घटनास्थल तक पहुँचने में काफी लम्बा समय लग जाये तो?
काफी बड़े क्षेत्र को प्रभावित कर सकने में सक्षम भूकम्प जैसी आपदा की स्थिति में ऐसा होने की प्रबल सम्भावना है क्योकि तब औपचारिक प्रतिवादन बलों का हस्तक्षेप केवल उच्च प्राथमिकता वाले स्थानों तक सीमित हो सकता है।
ऐसे में इस सम्बन्ध में उत्तराखण्ड राज्य आपदा प्रबन्धन प्राधिकरण (USDMA) के पीयूष रौतेला व अन्य के द्वारा प्राथमिक प्रतिवादन के लिये उत्तरदायी विभागों के भवनों की भूकम्प घातकता पर गये अध्ययन के निष्कर्षो पर विचार किया जाना अत्यन्त महत्वपूर्ण है जिसके अनुसार भूकम्प की स्थिति में इन विभागों के 14.12 व 67.19% भवन क्रमशः ध्वस्त व क्षतिग्रस्त हो जाने के कारण उपयोग में नहीं लाये जा सकेंगे जिसके कारण आपातकालीन प्रतिवादन क्षमता पर अत्यन्त प्रतिकूल प्रभाव पड़ेगा।
ऐसे में जरूरी हो जाता है कि औपचारिक प्रतिवादन बलों के साथ – साथ आपातकालीन प्रतिवादन के लिये उत्तरदायी इन विभागों के क्षमता विकास व सुदृढ़ीकरण पर अपेक्षित ध्यान दिया जाये।
इस अध्ययन से सम्बन्धित विस्तृत जानकारी के लिये क्लिक करे: http://jder.ssu.ac.ir/article_170_fd33bc39c3b0f62196a08e3494d1723a.pdf
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Located between the epicentres of 1905 Kangra and 1934 Bihar – Nepal Border earthquakes, and not having witnessed a major seismic tremor since September 1, 1803 Garhwal Earthquake the state of Uttarakhand in India faces high risk of being devastated by a high magnitude earthquake in near future.
Human casualty and misery on the aftermath of any disaster, including an earthquake is a function of promptness and effectiveness of response and therefore it becomes important to assess the level of disruption likely to be caused by the disaster in the functioning of primary responders. This is all the more pertinent in case of an earthquake that is likely to affect a large area and hamper reinforcement and specialised response from outside.
In this regard a study carried out by Piyoosh Rautela and others of Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) is no less than a clear cut warning and call for action. This study suggests that in an earthquake event around 14.12% surveyed buildings of the primary response agencies of the provincial government, accounted for by 16.67% of Fire and Emergency Services, 15.53% of local administration, and 5.00% of Police are likely to collapse while another 67.19% are to be damaged.
According to Piyoosh Rautela, “Vulnerability of masonry buildings of the response agencies in Uttarkashi, and RCC buildings in Bageshwar, Haridwar, Almora and Rudraprayag districts is assessed to be alarmingly high and warrants immediate corrective measures.”
“This is not about buildings alone – all this is to jeopardise life and safety of the responders besides damaging critical search and rescue equipment, which in turn could disrupt post-earthquake search, rescue and relief operations”, Piyoosh Rautela added.
The study recommends phased reconstruction and seismic retrofitting of the identified vulnerable buildings of the response agencies.
The study also highlights the issue of non-compliance of seismic safety codes, and flaunting of established engineering norms in the construction of these buildings.
Piyoosh Rautela said, “All these buildings must have been constructed by one or the other engineering department and therefore lapses of this nature should not be tolerated. We have accordingly suggested stringent punitive measures for ruling out omission of standards and codes.”
“Lacking maintenance is another issue as all these departments do not have engineering expertise, and therefore certain engineering department should be entrusted maintenance related responsibilities”, Piyoosh Rautela added.
In the previous some years the state government has allocated huge resources for strengthening its specialised response capabilities in the form of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) but the neglect of primary response agencies could nullify the gains of all this investment, particularly in case of a high magnitude earthquake hitting the state.
It is therefore required that the study be taken seriously and its recommendations be followed up.
You can access other details of this study at: http://jder.ssu.ac.ir/article_170_fd33bc39c3b0f62196a08e3494d1723a.pdf
It is really eyeopener. The ones on whom we all depend for rescue and relief on the aftermath of any disaster are themselves at high risk of being adversely affected. This would result in serious law and order problem besides adding to the miseries of the affected population.
This is quite evident that the buildings are required to be looked upon seriously to avoid future lapses towards the first responders.