The disaster impact of Latur Earthquake :
A general overviewThe
Latur earthquake was felt at 6.4 on the Richter scale at Killari in Latur
district of the Marathwada region as the epicentre, at 3.56 a.m.,on the 30th
September 1993. The tremour resulted in loss of lives of 7,928 persons, injury
to 16,000 persons and death of over 15,800 livestock. The damage was remarkably
extensive in 52 villages of Latur and Osmanabad districts, but the impact of the
disaster was spread in other 2500 villages in the neighbouring 11 districts. The
total property loss was estimated to be more than Rs.1100 crores.
The Disaster Response
As a part of disaster management programme the Maharashtra Emergency Earthquake
Rehabilitation Project (MEERP) was launched in 1993.It was supported by the
World Bank, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as well as several
bilateral donor agencies. With the purpose of recovery and mitigation of the
disaster they supported the affected people by providing rescue, relief and
rehabilitation.
The
management policy adopted by the state government to reconstruct the
disaster-affected economy is supported by a number of NGOs, private initiatives
and the community. The project initiated by the state government for the purpose
of rehabilitation is the largest rehabilitation package in India. The main aim
of the project is to provide proper socio-economic rehabilitation of the
affected people along with sustainable development as a whole.
The
comprehensive strategies taken by the government include relocation of 52
severely damaged villages, reconstruction and repair of damaged houses and
strengthening the undamaged houses by implementing earthquake-resistant building
techniques. For relocating the severely damaged villages they have taken the
help of remote sensing technique beside the consultative process side by
side.
As a
result of such initiatives the public utilities and infrastructure facilities
are repaired and strengthened. The basic utility goods which support the
primary, sustainable occupations of the poverty-stricken inhabitants of the
affected area are modified and improved. For the sake of socio-economic
rehabilitation special facilities are provided for the women and handicapped
persons. Special training programmes are provided for the village artisans and
civil engineers to make them familiar with the earthquake-resistant building
designs and techniques.
Different dimensions of the response The
response for disaster management was multi-dimensional. The strategies were
mainly based on three types of plans:
-
Communication Network,
- State Disaster
Management Plan,
- District Disaster Management Plan.
Communication Network
A side-wide communication network is being set up as part of the Maharashtra
Emrgency Earthquake Rehabilitation Programme. This network of telecommunication
and information technology consists of an Emergency Operations Centre (Central
Control Room) at Mantralaya, Mumbai, a standby Control Room at the Centre for
Disaster Management, YASHADA, Pune, Control Rooms at each of the six divisional
headquarters, and District Control Rooms at each district collectorate. This
network is connected with VSAT telecommunication facilities for data, voice and
information exchange and video teleconferencing. In a second level of
communication network all tahsils are linked together through a VHF Wireless
Network with nodes of the District Control Room reaching each tahsil
headquarters. The following maps (figure 1 & 2) indicate the spread of the
VHF wireless network in the districts and the VSAT network in the
state.
This telecommunication network will facilitate video-teleconferencing among the nodes
for more purposive and successful monitoring and management of such disaster.
VHP Network is used to link the subdivisional and taluka headquarters with the
respective district headquarters. Some up-to-date amenities like wireless base
stations, mobile sets and walkie-talkie units are provided to the sub-divisional
officers to improvise the contact with District Control Room.
State Disaster Management Plan
Maharashtra is the first state to prepare a comprehensive State Disaster
Management Plan and also undertake risk assessment and vulnerability analysis of
the state. These studies address the vulnerability of various districts, talukas
within these districts, and clusters of villages in these districts to
earthquakes, floods and cyclones, epidemics, road accidents and fire, and
chemical and industrial disasters. A separate volume on Standard Operating
Procedures, details the manuals for various departments to be activated during
an emergency.