AP to launch custom command centre to deal with natural disasters

For the betterment of dealing with disasters Andhra Pradesh will be soon launching a customised, online decision making command centre for the purpose for dealing with natural disasters as well as other incidents.

For any information regarding disasters or incidents like a fire, a road accident or flooding. It will first be processed to the command centre said the AP Critical Operations, Strategic Management and Incident Management (APCOSM) . From there, it will be conveyed to the department concerned.

It will be brought into action from the month of March and will be functioning completely within a year, as per the Commissioner of AP State Disaster Management Authority Prasanna Kumar Venkatesh. Such systems are available only in Europe and the U.S.A. “A Geo-spatial lab offering multi-hazard risk assessment models would also be set up,” he said.

He explained through an example, that it would give models of what would happen at a particular time and the areas it would be affecting in the case of flooding which occurred at Kondaveeti Vagu.

“Training youth as volunteers in disaster risk management will be undertaken under the World Bank-funded Community-Based Disaster Risk Management Programme in Andhra Pradesh,” Mr. Venkatesh said.

Local youth will be selected and the capacity of building exercises will be held for them so that they would be the first to react in case of a disaster. By recalling the role of youth in saving many lives at the time of the floods which took place in Chennai.