THE DAILY TELEGRAMS
Oct. 4, 2005
Stone for Emergency Operation Centre laid
Port Blair, Oct 03
The Department of Revenue and Disaster Management has taken up major steps
towards preparedness for Disaster Management. One of the steps is
construction of Emergency Operation Centre at five places namely Port Blair,
Mayabunder, Car Nicobar, Nancowry and Campbell Bay.
The foundation stone of the first Emergency Operation Centre in Port Blair
was laid by the Chief Secretary, Shri D S Negi on 2nd October 2005 in
presence of Shri S B Deol, Inspector General of Police, Shri Chetan B
sanghi, Commissioner-sum-Secretary (Revenue & Disaster Management), Shri P K
Gupta, Commissioner (Power), Shri Uddipta ray, Secretary to Lt. governor,
Shri Gyanesh Bharti, Deputy Commissioner, Andaman District, Smt Zubaida
Begum, Chairperson, PBMC and other senior officials of the Administration
and ALHW in the premises of District office.
The Dy Chief Engineer, ALHW, Shri Bimal Gupta and the Deputy Commissioner,
Andamans, shri Gyanesh Bharti briefed the details of construction and
functions of Emergency Operation Centre and other disaster preparedness
plans being undertaken by the Department.
The design of the building is prepared by Prof. A S Arya, National Seismic
Advisor, Govt. of India, New Delhi. The Emergency Operation Centre consists
of four different buildings viz. control room, conference room, resting room
and generator room. The buildings are designed as reinforced concrete frames
to sustain twice the seismic force for which residential buildings are
normally designed in each seismic zone. Emergency operation Centre buildings
will have much larger factor of safety against probable earthquake in the
respective areas. By this design the buildings will not only be safe against
collapse but will also remain functional after the occurrence of the natural
disaster.
The Emergency Operation Centre will monitor hazards, disseminate accurate
warning and coordinate response when the disaster strikes. It is established
to act as a state of the art resource centre for emergency response in the
event of any disaster. The control room will be equipped with modern
communication systems like VSAT, POLNET, VHF, HF, Video Conferencing Unit
etc to communicate with major organizations. It will also be equipped with
Marine Warning system, cyclone warning systems to disseminate warning and
other equipment required in case of any emergency. The control room will
function round the clock. The Emergency Operation Centre is also expected to
guide and control relief operation in disaster management.

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