The Maharashtra Legislative Council Deputy Chairperson Dr Neelam Gorhe on Friday has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention for the review of the National Disaster Management Act, 2005 and removal of flaws in its implementation.
Dr Gorhe in a letter to Modi said the framework of Disaster Management is designed for village, taluka, district, state and central level but unfortunately during disasters, it is not used but rather stays on paper only. ‘’There is no required and necessary information on the names and numbers of the swimmers, dangerous homes and homeowners, dangerous approach turns in the villages and also land erosion/ slides in prone areas during the rainy season. The framework of the disaster plan is usually for disasters in the rainy season. However, there is no mention or thought given to how to deal with another kind of disaster and actions/solutions to be taken in any other disaster,’’ she noted.
She argued that none of the citizens of any village are trained with regards to dealing with various disasters and state governments receive very little funding from the National Disaster Relief fund.
Dr Gorhe, who has addressed a similar letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, has suggested that the Centre needs to frame a new disaster management policy against the backdrop of COVID-19 pandemic with all types of disaster management must be right and specific on all levels and everyone should be given such directives. She said each village should get funds and purchasing powers to buy necessary equipment required to face any/all kinds of disasters.
According to Dr Gorhe, there needs to be specific and focused planning for disaster management. Further, there should be a separate cell to give training to officers, employees, office bearers and important /essential citizens.
