Among the most enduring images from the devastating Kerala floods of 2018 and 2019 were those of fishing boats racing across the floodwaters in a frantic search for stranded families.
Acknowledging the importance of boats in flood-time search-and-rescue operations, the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) has now made an inventory of vessels available in all 14 districts.
Efforts have been taken to compile data on all privately owned craft, ranging from small wooden canoes to houseboats to mechanised and non-mechanised fishing boats from the coast, KSDMA officials said on Friday.
“The inventory was taken with the help of the Police Department. We are not claiming that it is a complete list, but now we have an idea of what type of boats are available under each police station limits,” Sekhar L. Kuriakose, member secretary, KSDMA, said.
The extensive use of boats in the rescue operations in 2018 and 2019 had prompted the KSDMA to prepare the inventory. The advantage being that these valuable resources can be quickly mobilised by agencies involved in rescue operations during an emergency.
Further, the Monsoon Preparedness and Emergency Response Plan brought out by the KSDMA after the 2018 floods requires government agencies to maintain a database on boats available locally along with the mobile phone numbers of their owners.
Earlier this week, the KSDMA had published an inventory of various types of buildings that can be put to good use during emergencies. A consolidated inventory of schools (government and aided), ITIs, hostels, auditoriums, hotels and stadiums across the State were recently uploaded on sdma.kerala.gov.in, the officials website of the KSDMA.
It features the databases of the structures accompanied by maps. The Public Works Department (PWD) has examined the majority of these buildings and validated them for various uses during an emergency, according to the authority.
