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The Hindu
The Hindu
National
Staff Reporter

Citizens should be first line of defence against disasters: Rajamony

Kozhikode

Having faced many disasters in the last half a decade, Kerala has learned a lesson or two on ways to survive them and even set some models for the world to follow. However, Venu Rajamony, Officer on Special Duty on external cooperation for the Government of Kerala, former Indian Ambassador to the Netherlands and author of a book on lessons to be learned from the Dutch in the event of floods, feels that the State need to equip the citizens to be the first line of defence against any disaster.

Mr. Rajamony was speaking at a seminar on 'Kerala models of survival' organised as part of the first anniversary celebrations of the second term of the LDF government, in Kozhikode on Saturday. He appreciated the State government for the open mind to accept lessons from experiences, whether it be first hand or second hand. He said that the newly formed local disaster management units need to be strengthened and properly trained to deal with the emergency situations.

Quoting the Dutch experts, who visited Kerala after the 2018 floods to analyse the situation here, Mr. Rajamony said that Kerala did not lack in expertise, but only coordination and planning. "We have dams by three departments on the same river. But there was no coordination between these departments on when to open the shutters or what warnings needed to be given to the public. There was absolutely no planning on action in the event of a disaster", he said. Despite having a long coastline and 44 rivers, the people in Kerala were not water conscious, as a large majority did not know swimming or even the basics of boating.

He appreciated the State government for following the Dutch model of 'rooms for the river' in the case of river Pampa by ensuring there are enough channels for the water to flow in the event of excessive rain causing the river to overflow, and also the formation of a Water Conservation Authority in the State.

A.A. Rahim, MP, highlighted the role played by the local self governing bodies in ensuring coordination during the times of COVID-19. "The people worked as one, irrespective of politics, religion and other differences, to fight against the pandemic, and the local bodies coordinated the activities well", he said. He opined that the politics of humanity that the State had nurtured to perfection over generations was the key in surviving COVID. "We had youth organisations coming up to clean the ambulances, bury the dead and to donate blood, at a time the whole world was at a standstill and even the relatives abandoned the dead", he said.

Being a consumer State, Kerala had to work on improving food production on a war footing and it has succeeded to a great extent. The government ensured that no one was left hungry. It is our firm footing on the concept of welfare state that helped us, Mr. Rahim said.

District Panchayat Vice President M.P. Sivanandan presided over the event.

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