The Disaster Management Unit of the Maharashtra Government was constituted in the wake of the 1993 Latur earthquake. A GIS- based DMIS (Disaster Management Information System) forms the base of this Disaster Management Unit. The Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre (MRSAC) located in Nagpur functions as the node for this system. The maps of various districts in the state have been digitised to aid disaster management.

The prime users of the DMIS are various government departments like the Water Resources and Conservation Department, the Rural Development Department, the Home Ministry (primarily the police force), the Agricultural Department and the Revenue Department. The state government is also customising the data for land use planning and offering it to district collectors. S C Mohanty, director and OSD, Disaster Management Unit, Government of Maharashtra, speaks exclusively to Biztech2.0 on the evolving role of the DMIS in handling natural disasters.

Can you shed some light on the Disaster Management Communication System?

Apart from mobile telephony, we have satellite phones, VHF phones and HAM Radio set up. The divisional commissionerates are connected with the state HQ at the Mantralaya in Mumbai via satellite phones. The VHF network connects the state HQ with the taluka HQs. There are 67 regions in Mumbai connected with the Disaster Management Unit via VHF lines. We also have video conferencing and other dedicated communication systems for the Disaster Management Unit.

Currently, we are evaluating a proposal to implement a Disaster Warning Dissemination System (DWDS) through SMS and voice broadcast. Initially, it will be implemented in the Godavari basin followed by replication at other locations. The Cyclone Risk Mitigation project is also under consideration.

In the eventuality of a natural disaster, how are the communication systems deployed?

In case of a disaster, there are four modes of communication. These include fixed telephone lines, the mobile network, the wireless VHF (Very High Frequency) lines and video conferencing facilities. Our video conferencing is facilitated via NICNET (NIC’s VSAT-based communication network), MAHANET and EDUSAT. The Disaster Management unit is also connected to the IMD through our website. Our control room is connected with IMD, INCOIS (India National Centre for Ocean Information Services), NGRI (National Geophysical Research Institute) and IIGM (Indian Institute of Geomagnetism) to get updates from them.

What is the district-wise basis of the scale of population under consideration?

Maharashtra comprises 35 revenue districts out of which two are completely urban (Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban). These fall under the MCGM. When the DMIS was commissioned in 1998, there were only 32 districts. At that time as Mumbai was not given the status of a district, the information pertaining to the city was not digitised. Currently, the system is used for 33 districts. The districts are considered under a scale of 1/50,000 (resources are allocated per 50,000 people). Post 1998, about twelve districts have been declared as ‘multi-disaster prone’ and the scale for these districts has been reduced to 1/25,000.

In the past decade, many districts in the state have faced floods during monsoon and droughts during dry periods. This showed that the state needed enhanced disaster management. As a result, the MRSAC is currently renewing its information and upgrading the DMIS system on a scale of 1/10,000.

What kind of information does the DMIS handle?

The DMIS system was launched in the wake of the 1993 Latur earthquake. Since then, the state has not faced any major disaster; however, it suffered losses worth Rs 8,500 cr and 7,700 cr in the flash foods of 2005 and 2006 respectively.

The system gives decision makers at the Mantralaya a list of flood-prone regions, the proximity of the same to rivers, major water bodies in the districts etc. For example, the areas of Sangli and Kolhapur are flooded from the backwaters of the Almaty dam in Karnataka after the water crosses the heights of the dam. The Almaty dam is at a distance of 240 km from the Maharashtra border. The state also faces similar backwater problems from dams located in AP, MP and Gujarat. The DMIS furnishes all this information to the state government.

The DMIS is currently designed to handle natural disasters. However, we are actively considering adding information that will allow the system to be leveraged for man-made disasters also. Information like the number of hospitals, their bed capacity and blood bank details can help. We will have to add more layers in our eight-layer information structure to enable all this.

What are the major upgrades being planned for the DMIS?

We want to develop a database on the lines of a Belgium-based website that will include the history of national disasters and will incorporate damage caused to physical and financial assets and losses to the environment in monetary terms. The information will be based on GIS and hosted on the DMIS platform.

Whatever upgrades we implement, our aim is to penetrate their effects to the level of the district collector and his personnel as they are the first respondents to a disaster, the role of the government comes much later. The taluka level people should also be involved.

Once the Maharashtra SWAN (State Wide Area Network) becomes functional, it is our vision to make all the information we have available on the Web by hosting a server at Mantralaya with a 2Kbps line. This will enable information updates at the district level.

Are there any plans to universalise the DMIS platform across India to make it seamless?

Disaster Management was a state concern till now; however, after the promulgation of the NDMA (National Disaster Management Act, 2005), it has been included in the concurrent list and falls under the purview of the National Disaster Management Authority. The NDMA has issued guidelines on the subject and other GOI agencies like CWC (Central Water Commission) are also working with NDMA to host a GIS-based DMIS database at the national level.

This will enable states to learn from their mistakes and share critical information on demand. A couple of databases are already shared by all states like the IDRM (Indian Disaster Resource Network) that enlists important resources in the country and the IDKN that makes note of the best practices while handling disaster management.