Former Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen (Retd) Noble Thamburaj said having a proper leadership in place at the site of a disaster was vital for proper disaster management. Different agencies like armed forces,police,bureaucrats and media can be spearheaded in such a manner to ensure effective rescue and relief operations. Thamburaj was delivering a keynote address at the two-day national seminar on chemical,biological,radiation and nuclear (CBRN) disaster management jointly organised by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and College of Military Engineering that culminated here on Saturday. Citing the confusion that persisted among various agencies during the 26/11 Mumbai attack,Thamburaj stressed on the need for a single point headquarter to mitigate any form of confusion or calamity,which he said was absent during the hostage situation. He emphasised the need for increased participation of armed forces in disaster mitigation bodies like NDMA to solidify disaster management efforts at the national level. The second day session discussed the role of media and NGOs as force multipliers. Speaking on Media and NBC terrorism,Vinod Mathew,resident editor,The Indian Express,Pune,highlighted the need for a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that should take into confidence various agencies including the fourth estate to help disseminate factual information to the public. If the swine flu outbreak was a biological terror attack how would the media have reacted? It would have possibly been a cross between the way it did during 26/11 and the swine flu pandemic outbreak. For this,we should start building an SOP that makes space for the media too,as I understand happens in countries like Israel that faces such situations. Ideally it would be better to make media a part of a larger team that reflects the cross section of the society, he said. Speaking on disaster and media - building better understanding,Nitin Gokhale,editor Defence & Strategic Affairs,NDTV,said the media in emergency situations or during a developing crisis needs factual information. In the absence of such information,there is a possibility of the media disseminating secondary and ternary information available with it pertaining to a developing scenario, he said. The seminar started with the opening address by Lt Gen USP Sinha,AVSM,VSM,Commandant CME followed by the inaugural address by Dr B Bhattacharjee,member NDMA,who also inaugurated the exhibition of disaster management equipment. The second session Armed Forces as Responders in CBRN Disaster Management was chaired by Major General Rajeev Datt,AVSM,VSM,Dean and Deputy Commandant,CME while the third session Role of Scientific Community in Chemical and Biological Disaster Management was chaired by Major General S S Sengupta,VSM,CE,HQ Southern Command,Pune.
