Consequent to back-to-back floods and landslides that affected Kodagu in recent years, the district administration there is bracing ahead of time for any eventuality during monsoon.
At a review meeting held in Madikeri on Tuesday, Deputy Commissioner Charulatha Somal directed the officials to prepare for any contingency that may arise due to floods after the arrival of the south west monsoon in June.
The Deputy Commissioner said there were heavy rains in the month of August in 2018, 2019 and 2020 which caused widespread damage including landslides resulting in loss of life and property. Hence vulnerable places prone to such incidents should be identified and precautionary measures should be in place.
She stressed upon the imperatives of information gathering pertaining to weather and timely dissemination to the public so that they could also be forewarned of any impending eventuality. The Agriculture Department was vested with the task of collating all information pertaining to weather and sharing it with the district administration. She said advance information pertaining to weather conditions could help prevent or minimise damage.
Calling for preparations at the taluk and hobli levels Ms. Charulatha Somal directed the local officials to conduct review meetings to assess their level of preparations to handle any exigency. A task force will also be constituted to oversee the preparations to handle any natural disasters and it will comprise all officials drawn from various departments including Revenue, NDRF, SDRF, Fire Force, Police, CESC, Forest, and PWD. She also called upon the staff to prepare a list of safety and rescue equipment that will be required to handle any natural disaster and submit the same to the district administration within 10 days.
