Chennai: In a first of its kind initiative and to mitigate the impact of any disaster, the state revenue administration has roped in as many as 11,479 young volunteers who have registered with district collectorates as first responders. These local youngsters are trained to react in case of all kinds of disasters and emergencies, commissioner of revenue administration K. Satyagopal told DC.
Tamil Nadu is now a better-prepared state in disaster management and these youngsters will play a crucial role in the case of natural disasters like flood, earthquake or tsunami. The top official, who has been co-coordinating with the district collectors on the monsoon arrangements and disaster prevention mechanism, said that the first responders are athletic youngsters, aware of the local topography. Basic rescue operation and swimming are part of the training programme imparted to them and the training will be periodically upgraded, he said. Contact numbers and the residential address of these first responders will be available to all the district collectors and they will be like our foot soldiers sharing the valid inputs necessary for search and rescue operations.
Based on the experiences gained from 2004 tsunami and the 2015 Chennai December floods, the grey areas in coastal districts have been identified. Particularly after the last year’s flood, the entire state has been segregated in vulnerable and non-vulnerable zones. All the coastal districts, particularly Chennai and Cuddalore both have a detailed action plan with a disaster management map. This map is now available for the revenue staff and will be shared with the government departments like NDRF, army, police and local bodies for effective management of disasters, he said.
