Shillong, May 12: The West Garo Hills district administration has intensified preparedness to deal with floods in the plain belt, landslides, and other monsoon-related emergencies.
The District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), West Garo Hills, on Tuesday convened a District Coordination meeting at Circuit House, Tura, to review readiness and tighten coordination among departments, agencies, and service providers.
Deputy Commissioner and DDMA chairman Vibhor Aggarwal said annual monsoon disasters often lead to complacency. “Although monsoon-related disasters occur annually, there is often a tendency to become complacent, leading to gaps in preparedness and resource inventories,” he said.
He stressed the need for sincerity in disaster planning. He stressed the importance of maintaining preparedness measures with sincerity and seriousness.
Aggarwal urged officials to share field experience from past calamities. “I urged all officials to actively participate in the discussions, provide suggestions and opinions, and share lessons learnt from past disasters so that the administration and concerned departments can improve response mechanisms,” he said.
The Deputy Commissioner directed all district officers to stay in the district and avoid unnecessary leave during the monsoon.
Noting that junior staff are often left to manage crises on the ground, he said, “Senior officers must personally be in the field to supervise and remain actively involved during emergencies.”
ADC and CEO, DDMA, J R T Sangma reviewed last year’s preparedness through a PowerPoint presentation.
The meeting was attended by SP, Tura Abraham T Sangma and other police officials, ADC and PD, DRDA Nipon Hajong, Block Development Officers, District Disaster Management Officer James D Sangma and his team, officials from SDMA, Civil Defence personnel, district heads of departments, and medical representatives from various hospitals in Tura.
Departments were instructed to update their Disaster Management Plans, identify vulnerable and frequently affected areas, and ensure timely updating of river water levels when they approach danger marks. Discussions also covered the arrangement of water tankers, identification of waterlogged areas, rapid damage assessment, maintenance of essential services, stocking of essential commodities and medicines, setting up of relief camps and temporary shelters, dissemination of weather warnings, and strengthening emergency response.
“All departments were further directed to update their resources and inventories and take proactive measures to ensure preparedness for any disaster situation during the monsoon season,” officials said. The Deputy Commissioner also instructed all BDOs to hold similar preparedness meetings at the block level to assess readiness, map resources, and involve Aapda Mitras in disaster preparedness and response.
