States ill-prepared to deal with disasters

As per the Disaster Management Act,2005,all states are supposed to have a disaster management plan.

Several states,including Madhya Pradesh where more than 100 people were killed during a temple stampede Sunday,dont have a disaster management plan in place.

According to the minutes of a national workshop of state relief commissioners to review utilisation of capacity building grants held on August 26,states such as MP,Rajasthan,Tamil Nadu,UP,Haryana,Andhra Pradesh,Goa and J&K were found lacking.

As per the Disaster Management Act,2005,all states are supposed to have a disaster management plan. All states are not on a par in terms of disaster management abilities. Madhya Pradesh has not put together a disaster management plan, said National Institute of Disaster Management vice-chairman M Shashidhar Reddy.

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Officials at the institute said most states are ill-prepared and inefficient when it came to disaster management.

The National Disaster Management Authority wrote to all CMs on August 27 observing that State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMA) had not met for long periods,thereby affecting disaster management efforts adversely.

It urged states to ensure that SDMAs meet regularly and the District Disaster Management Authorities are activated. Some states,including MP,are yet to respond to the letter.