Even as there is lack of equipment and manpower crunch to address disaster management in all the districts in the state, ironically with no plan in hand till late August last year, the District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMA) had been unable to utilise Rs 50 lakh allocation, which has been made to each of the districts in the state. The state had asked the DDMA formed under district collectors to utilise these funds by March 31 this year. “All districts in the state were allocated Rs 50 lakh last year and it was not utilised. They did not have a plan too and it was only towards the end of last year that they readied a plan as the funds were reallocated to be utilised by March 31,’’ said a senior official from the state district disaster management cell. Only if the plan is prepared and implementation is carried out can the districts ask for more funds and the state disaster management cell has said that are yet to receive any proposal from any district seeking more funds. On the present incident at Murud and the entire coastline, he said that each district has to take a call on the equipment and staff needed, and preventive measures to be undertaken while promoting tourism. Meanwhile, the Raigad authorities have stated that they had the signboards in place and local villagers were trained to help in case of any mishaps. Additional collector PD Mallikner said that it is a very unfortunate incident but they had the signboards in place. “I would say that if students come for such excursions, the teachers should take responsibility and prevent them from entering the water when signboards are in place specifically stating the danger depending on the time period,’’he said.
