Port Blair, Aug. 2: The Andaman & Nicobar Administration in coordination with National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), MHA, GoI, New Delhi organized a training programme on Incident Response System (IRS) for the Incident Response Teams of UT Administration in the conference hall of Secretariat here today. The Chief Secretary, A&N Administration, Shri Keshav Chandra, IAS, graced the occasion as the chief guest.
Inaugurating the training programme, the Chief Secretary said that Andaman and Nicobar Islands come under seismic zone-V and are prone to disasters/natural calamities. These Islands have experienced the Tsunami in 2004 which caused destructions to the property and many people lost their lives. In light of these situations, the Chief Secretary said, we have to be extremely serious about Disaster preparedness. He asked the Disaster Management Department should organize periodic rehearsals, mock drills and trainings at regular intervals.
The Chief Secretary said, after the December 2004 Tsunami, the Administration has laid special emphasis on disaster preparedness and mitigation. He further stated that Incident Response System (IRS) is extremely important in the wake of Disasters. He underlined the need to be equipped with the basics of disaster preparedness & mitigation and asked all stakeholders to work in tandem to minimise the loss of lives and property in the event of any disaster in the Isles.
In his address on this occasion, the Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Disaster Management, Shri Nikhil Kumar, IAS, stated that disaster preparedness is most important in A&N Islands and the A&N Administration is making all out efforts in equipping the Disaster Management Department with best infrastructure facilities for disaster management. He further informed that Disaster Management Department has IRTs in place covering all the Districts and State Level Mock drills are being conducted in Isles by the NDMA as per schedule. The Department is working on the gaps indentified during the last mock drill. Apart from the IEC materials, first-hand awareness progs & trainings are crucial and regular mock drills will help us further strengthen the disaster preparedness and management, he added.
Giving an insight of the IRS system, Col. V N Supanekar, Former Director, CDM YASHADA said, IRS is basically applied during the response phase of Disaster Management and during the disaster we have to respond quickly and effectively to minimize the loss of lives and properties. This IRS training programme has been planned basically to sensitize and also to train the people who are going to be part of Incident Response Teams (IRTs). He also made power point presentation on IRS: A tool for systematic response and its operationalization in which he covered all aspects of IRS and its functioning.
Welcoming the chief guest and others present on the occasion, the Secretary Disaster Management, Shri ASPS, Raviprakash, IAS stated that Andaman and Nicobar Islands are prone to natural calamities and earthquakes. This year, more than 30 earthquakes have so far hit the Islands, the magnitude of which were 4.5 and above on the Richter scale. All these situations prompt us to keep our disaster preparedness and disaster management of highest level, he said.
The Secretaries and HoDs of all Departments participated in the workshop.