Disaster Management wing ill-equipped

KOCHI: Even after four years of its launch, the District Disaster Management wing at the Collectorate is of little help to the public in times of emergency. The wing has got only two clerks and a Deputy Collector at its helm to coordinate the disaster management activities in the entire district.  Indira Devi, Deputy Collector, Disaster Management Department said: “Usually we coordinate with the police and the Fire and Rescue Services department.” Though the department officials claim that they are synchronising the activities with the police and fire stations, the department does not have hotlines that connect them with the police, both city and rural, and also fire stations. “We have hotline numbers only with the Navy,” said officials with the disaster management department. The officials with the Fire station, Thrikkakara, also confirmed that they do not get much communication during emergencies.” The only activity which they did of late in coordination with the disaster management department was the mock drill which was conducted a few days ago.Sources with the collectorate said the department was of no help when a bomb exploded at the collectorate two years ago. “Though the department was housed inside the collectorate,  no facilities were provided to handle emergency situations. If a fire breaks out at the civil station, extinguishing it will be a strenuous task as fire extinguishers are nowhere to be seen inside the civil station. The disaster management officials also confirmed this. “The department has only two fire extinguishers and it has to be used in case of emergency situations,” the officials said. “There are more than fifty six departments at the civil station and this is a busy place. The civil station lacks a fire exit too. The lifts are also not provided with any safety measures,” said collectorate sources. Lack of awareness is yet another issue. “Not only are the public unaware of it. But the staff employed at various levels do not have sufficient information on how to handle the situation,” the sources said.