A centralised operation control centre will soon come up at the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) here to facilitate quick decision-making in the face of disasters like floods and landslides.
The centre will act as a single-point response centre by bridging communication between multiple agencies on the ground, district centre authorities and the decision-making authorities in Bengaluru.
Karnataka Disaster Management Authority Commissioner Manoj Rajan, who heads KSNDMC, said the centre would be equipped with advanced communication systems. “We will install the infrastructure necessary to reduce the time taken to make decisions. A meeting hall will have a video wall displaying current status, and progress of work will be part of the set up,” he said.
The centre will be linked to the KSNDMC’s Varuna Mitra and the early warning system (EWS) networks which will send scientific data. The integration of different systems will enable analysis of information in real time. The centre will also provide inputs on agriculture and horticulture as well as to fishermen by using the advanced sensors monitoring natural hazards.
After the flood disasters in 2018 and 2019, experts had suggested to the government to invest on setting up infrastructure as well as the expertise by training officials, especially with regard to emergency response and mitigation measures for both short and long terms.
The project is set to be completed in the next six months. The physical infrastructure planned by officials includes work stations to accommodate more than 15 technical persons along with a manager. A conference hall for discussing the developments and holding video interactions with ministers as well as district-level officials will also be part of the set up.
Sources said training human resource in disaster management, especially at the district level, was one of the recommendations that is yet to be considered seriously. “Often, the officials at the district level are burdened with other works. Considering the challenges lying ahead, it was suggested to the government to build expertise,” the source said.