ASDMA chalks up fresh plans for Guwahati

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, April 27: Taking a lesson from the Nepal catastrophe, the Assam State Disaster Magement Authority (ASDMA) is mooting a fresh disaster magement plan for Guwahati.

The plan will be made by a reputed agency, ASDMA CEO PK Tiwari said.

Assam lies in the highest-risk Seismic Zone 5.

“We are also planning to conduct an open space mapping of the city. We will complete the mapping within three months – which will be done with the help of drones or satellite imagery. The maps will be made public to that people can know where to go in the event of a disaster,” Tiwari said. Already, he said, safety assessments have been done in 600 buildings of the city. “We have also interacted with the dwellers and trained them in disaster magement,” Tiwari said. The city has been divided into several sub zones depending on the vulnerability and risk.

The State government has also decided to purchase an aerial ladder immediately. “We did not have an aerial ladder. This ladder is vital to rescue people in high rises. It costs around Rs 6 crore,” he said.

The ASDMA has also decided to make tha-level contingency plans.