Goa govt to appoint agency to collect disaster-related data

The Goa government plans to appoint an agency for collection of disaster-related data to avoid any untoward incident in the upcoming monsoon season.

The government will float a request for proposal (RFP) by the end of this month to appoint a private player for the task of data collection.

Revenue Minister Rohan Khaunte gave this information here today.

The southwest monsoon generally arrives in Goa in the first week of June.

"The state government would be floating RFP for collection of data on disaster management by the end of May to invite bids from private players," Khaunte said.

"They will have to collect all the data related to disaster management and submit it to the state. The tender would be awarded in the month of June," he added.

Khaunte said the state government is also working on setting up control rooms at taluka, district and state levels.

All the helplines of various departments would be integrated so that the people have single point of access in case of disaster during rains, he said.

"In the last one year, the government has taken several initiatives to ensure that disaster management plan is in the right place," the minister said.

According to him, different government agencies have been asked to give their inputs to avoid any disaster during the monsoon.

"The National Highways Authority (NHA) has been told to look at the areas prone to flooding. Vulnerable areas would be given special attention," he said.

"Desilting of the drains will begin across the state. Pruning of trees near highway and others will be taken up. The reports would be taken from panchayat on these issues," he said.

"From May 15 onwards, the road digging work will be stopped except in exceptional cases. Precautionary measures will be taken up by health department for vector-borne diseases," he said.