By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The Directorate of Civil Defence and Homeguard has formulated a crisis management plan the draft of which has already been forwarded to the State Government for its approval.
Informing this here on Wednesday, Director General of Civil Defence and Homeguard Kulbir Krishan said once the state government gives its approval the same would be forwarded to the Union government.
“I hope the draft would be approved within a week’s time and the same would be sent to Delhi,” Krishan said adding that it is important for the state to have a plan of action in place considering the fact that Meghalaya is very vulnerable to natural calamities especially earthquake.
Taking into account the position that the state is in at present, the DG said “Certain preventive measures to tackle any kind of destruction, be it natural or man-made, is already in the pipeline and considering the fact that Shillong is a congested city, we need to make our plan accordingly.”
Expressing concern over Shillong turning into a crammed city, Krishan said that unlike 20 years ago, at present Shillong is now full of concrete buildings (80 per cent) and only 20 percent of Assam-type buildings are remaining.
“This is a very dangerous trend as the state falls in the Seismic Zone Five and if a disaster strikes the city it is equally important to have necessary infrastructure to handle any kind of destruction,” he added.
Krishan also informed that the department has already sent a proposal to the state government to deploy two companies of forces, one each for Shillong and Tura, trained in disaster relief.
“We are still awaiting the government’s response in this regard,” Krishan said.
Echoing a similar view, Urban Affairs Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh said “We got to get ready to step in whenever necessary and it has become even more important to put in place certain preventive measures to prevent any untoward incidence.”