Chairing a review meeting with officials, Collector S. Kandasamy said coordinated measures should be taken to deal with heavy rain, flooding, and disasters. Teams for early warning, search and rescue, and relief camp management should be formed at the taluk level, with officials assigned specific responsibilities.
Desilting of water bodies, canals, drains and waterways should be expedited to ensure the free flow of floodwater. Flood-prone areas should be identified in advance and sandbags, water pumps and rescue equipment kept ready. Control rooms should be established at the offices of Revenue Divisional Officers and Tahsildars, with rainfall and damage details reported daily.
The public can report disaster-related information through the helpline numbers 1077 and 0424-2260211. Rain gauges and communication equipment should remain functional. Training and mock drills should be conducted for volunteers and first responders.
He added that relief camps should have drinking water, toilets, electricity and generators. Separate rooms should be provided for persons with disabilities, senior citizens, pregnant women, lactating mothers and children, with facilities such as wheelchairs. Maintenance works should be undertaken on highways, bridges and waterways, with heavy machinery and rescue equipment. Hospitals should maintain adequate stocks of medicines, medical equipment and generators.
Essential commodities should be adequately stocked, particularly in hilly areas, where two to three months’ supplies should be kept in advance. Veterinary medicines and fodder, and agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and pesticides should also be stocked.
The Collector directed local bodies to clear encroachments and obstructions in water bodies and inspect dams, lakes, bunds, sluice gates and check dams. He also called for attention to rainwater harvesting and conversion of defunct and dry borewells into groundwater recharge structures.