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Saturday, February 2, 2013

Lessons on how to tackle disasters

The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) today began a sensitisation programme in the city to educate residents of apartment societies on techniques of disaster management.

About 200 apartment societies will be covered under the programme that will continue till February 20.

The sensitisation programme will also include mock drills by civil defence personnel who will show different techniques that people should adopt to escape from harm when a natural or manmade disaster strikes.

Officials from the Assam Fire Service Organisation, homeguards and local NGOs will also lend their support. Fire officials will inspect the apartment blocks for fire exits and other safety features to ensure that residents can escape safely if disaster strikes.

Six different teams, each comprising officials from the ASDMA, fire department, homeguards, civil defence and NGOs, will be visiting different apartment blocks to sensitise the residents on various aspects of disaster management every day. The people will also be given a chance to put forward their queries and seek solutions from the experts present on the spot.

“We will be carrying out the 20-day sensitisation programme to educate the residents on ways to manage a disaster. During the mock drills, civil defence personnel will exhibit the ways people should adopt to shield them from harm when a disaster of any kind or any magnitude occurs. This programme has been especially designed for the city as it falls on the seismic zone and is very prone to earthquakes. In the initial phase, we will be targeting 200 apartment societies and will be gradually expanding the programme to cover more such apartments in the Kamrup (metropolitan) district,” said an ASDMA official.

“The fire officials will also inspect the apartment blocks to see that all safety measures like fire extinguishers and fire exits are in place. If any faulty construction is detected, it will be brought to the notice of the residents and the builder will be given a specific time to rectify it. These officials may again visit to check whether the safety measures have been put in place as instructed,” said the official.

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