Doubts raised on NDMA's disaster preparedness

According to Uttarakhand govt, there are over 3,000 people missing in the natural calamity

Members of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday, slammed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), as a “mere spectator” during a natural or man-made calamity in the country.

The members raised doubts on NDMA’s functioning and asked why it was unable to give specific recommendations to state governments. PAC members, who have started considering the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on disaster preparedness in India, wanted to know from senior officials of the home ministry and NDMA members why the authority had failed to meet in the last four years. The national executive committee of the NDMA, constituted in October 2008, has not met even once afterwards.

“It has been repeatedly said state governments do not acknowledge the recommendations of the NDMA. But the actual situation is the opposite. If the NDMA members have not met for the last four years, what recommendations are they talking about which, they say, were given to state governments?” questioned the PAC.

The members questioned the disaster preparedness of the NDMA when landslides and cloudbursts were reported in Uttarakhand for consecutive years from 2008 to 2012. “The Union government and NDMA had talked about an early warning system but the project did not materialise. The India Meteorological Department had issued an alert on the possibility of heavy showers in Uttarakhand this year,” said PAC members.

The parliamentarians were concerned as to why NDMA and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) did not have enough satellite phones in Uttarakhand and what were the possible causes for the delay in procurement of satellite phones. According to senior members of the NDRF, the Authority only has 20 satellite phones distributed at 12 centres across the country whereas the NDMA had demanded for at least 100 satellite phones.        

Senior members of the parliamentary committee pointed out the state governments would only be able to comply with the recommendations of the NDMA if they were given to the state governments.

“It is sad the NDMA has not done anything and it has come out prominently during the tragedy in Uttarakhand. All PAC members wanted to know what was the NDMA doing when there were cyclones in the country, an earthquake in Sikkim, floods in Bihar, an earthquake in Jammu and Kashmir,” said the PAC members.