Disaster management cell a disaster

On Saturday evening, when five bombs ripped the Capital in three areas leaving 28 dead and nearly 130 injured, there were no calls to the specialised cell.

In fact, ever since inception instead of handling disaster, 1077 is fielding domestic and civic problems. Here8217;s one query: 8220;How can we provide help to physically challenged persons?8221; A senior government official admitted as much: 8220;Most residents take it as a helpline to lodge civic-related complaints to the government.8221;

Developed on lines of other international helplines, the call centre is supposed to inform and coordinate with all other agencies and stakeholders the moment it receives a call about a mishap. An 8216;incident command system8217; is also in place, on paper at least.

All that came to nothing, though, on Saturday.

8220;We cannot take action on our own or based on media reports 8212; the situation could get more slipshod in that case,8221; said Goutam Banerjee, Head Projects, Vcon Services, the private firm that has received outsourced work of the call centre. 8220;We can get into action only after we receive calls informing us about the situation.

8220;Even on Saturday, initial media reports said it was only a cylinder blast.8221;

Delhi government officials, meanwhile, are on the backfoot. Vinay Kumar, convener of the Disaster Management Authority of Delhi, 8220;I rang up 1077 soon after the blast. The call centre immediately alerted the administrative staff, hospitals and blood banks. We did not inform the police and fire service because they were already at the site.8221;

How the centre works
The call centre is meant to come into action after mishaps such as building collapse, earthquake, fire, flood, landslide, railway or road accident, and terrorist attacks among others. There is an action plan to tackle each such emergency.

According to protocol, each call is recorded in the call logger and the record 8212; right down to minute details 8212; is to be maintained forever. Among these are facts like caller8217;s name, location of incident, and type of incident. As part of the system as soon as the mishap location is mentioned, phone numbers of the concerned police station and administrative officers would flash on screen. While the call centre agents alert fire department, hospitals and police officers, text messages are simultaneously sent out to other stakeholders.

A list of officers under emergency support function is maintained at the call centre. This list includes key officers of MTNL, Delhi Fire Service, Delhi Police, Home Guard, Home Department of Delhi Government, Delhi Health Service, CAT, Indian Red Cross Society, Delhi Jal Board, Irrigation and Flood Control, Delhi Development Authority, MCD, PWD, NDMC, CPWD, NCC, and scouts.

The call centre is supposed to coordinate with each agency to closely monitor rescue work. All this, though, was missing when Delhi bled on Saturday evening.

WHEN: June 24; 05:36:51
WHERE: Janakpuri District Centre
WHAT: Road accident
WHEN: June 25; 12:53:38
WHERE: Mandoli Village
WHAT: Complaint against MCD for supplying muddy water
WHEN: June 25; 13:25:45
WHERE: Vasant Vihar
WHAT: No water supply for 2 weeks
WHEN: June 25/06/2008
WHERE: Mohan Bagh
WHAT: Complaint against BSES
WHEN: June 25; 10:50:46
WHERE: Vasant Kunj
WHAT: Need pamphlets of disaster management for children8217;s homework