TISS to find reasons for U'khand tragedy, suggest measures

The reputed Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) is in the process of bringing out a detailed report to help analyse the reasons behind the Uttarakhand calamity and suggest preventive steps.
A team comprising students and officials visited the most devastated villages of Uttarakhand after the calamity and a report is expected soon.
"We have researched around 96 villages which were most affected during the disaster. The report is expected next week. The report will help and support government and other agencies to adopt villages to take measures for the coming winter," said S.Parasuraman, Director, TISS while releasing the second edition of the India Disaster Report (IDR-II) here today.

The report will also have a broader analysis and research about why the disaster took place and how it can be prevented, he said.
The research report is aimed at at helping the state as well as central government and other agencies to devise the best way of dealing with such disasters and its prevention. The TISS has a very strong presence in the state since the cloud burst happened, he said.
Officials added that starting from August 27, a group of 25 students along with faculties will spend around five weeks for this detailed report and analyse why such a situation had developed.

"We already have the GIS mapping data for the last 20 years in Uttarakhand and we have been able to see how things have moved. This is basically to work along with the government to prevent such situations from happening in the future," Parasuraman added.

Stressing the need for proper warning system and real time dissemination of the information to the people, officials maintained that in Andhra Pradesh, there are proper warning systems now and people have started reacting to cyclone warnings.
"However, in Uttarakhand people had come from all over the country. Nowadays radios are almost non existent and television and cellphones are there. However, there was a language barrier in Uttarakhand. Therefore, a lot of innovations need to be done in this area," a senior official said.

The IDR-I was first launched in 2000. The second edition by Oxford publications emphasises the importance of understanding the concept of natural, technological and human made disasters in shaping policy, practise and research among a host of other things.