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It is time to change, says
Prof Ramamurthy
India’s Premier Geospatial Monthly I t is time to change. Several
people are asking me if Google
Earth is a threat but I have no
answers, said Prof V S
Ramamurthy, Secretary,
Department of Science and
Technology.
Maps have always been tool kits
for defence and security related
Chennai, Tuesday, October 25, 2005 agencies. They are reluctant to
Special supplement on international conference on part with information to their
in the year is an acknow-
Spatial Data Infrastructure And Its Role In Disaster Management adversaries. But technological
ledgment by the government
revolution has changed the
that technologies have been
scenario today. It brought
‘Integrate databases to digital maps to everyone and
when it is coupled together with
GIS, GPS and other technologies,
changing and it is necessary
that we take a middle path, he
said.
create information highway’ it is a developmental tool. It can
be put to use to a variety of
purposes right from
Every technology has a threat
perception. For example, take
the case of nano technology –
infrastructure building to even before a single product
disaster management and it is using this technology has been
important that everybody has unveiled, people started talking
access to it, opined the about its advantages and aired
distinguished professor. their concerns. It is the
responsibility of all the
Map policy announced earlier
- Turn to page 3
NDMA, a guide for
disaster management
R avaged by natural and
man-made calamities over
the years, it was high time that
with the organisation. Empow-
ered to formulate the plans and
policies for disaster manage-
India had a policy and decision ment, NDMA approves the Na-
making body to give directions tional Disaster Management
and set up guidelines to man- Plan, approves the plans laid
age disasters. The National Di- down by various departments
saster Management Authority of the government, and coordi-
(NDMA) which came into being nates the implementation of
in May 2005 is the first step in such plans and policies aimed
that direction. at disaster management,
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Thiru. S Regupathy delivering the key note address. From left P Murari, advisor to Speaking on the opening day of among other things.
president, FICCI, Vinod C Menon, NDMA, R Muthu, chairman of FICCI, Tamil Nadu and Alok K Mittal, advisor, FICCI.
the International Conference on In the post-disaster scenario,
T he National Spatial Data
Infrastructure (NSDI)
should focus on providing
The conference is
organised by Federation of
Indian Chambers of Commerce
being P Murari, advisor to the
president, FICCI, proposed a vote
of thanks. Comparing the
Spatial Data Infrastructure and
its role in Disaster Manage-
ment, Vinod C Menon, Member,
NDMA arranges for and over-
sees the financial assistance
that is required for mitigation,
organised spatial data and and Industry (FICCI) in disaster management NDMA, explained the responsi- and also for preparedness and
multi-level networking to association with Department of preparedness in the developed bilities and activities vested - Turn to page 3
enhance economic growth, Science and Technology. Over and developing nations, he
social progress and two hundred delegates from recollected how earthquake
environmental quality, various parts of the country and wardens of the disaster-prone
exhorted S Regupathy, Minister abroad are participating in the areas in the US ensured that the
of State for Home Affairs. three-day event. people took necessary
Inaugurating `International Earlier in the day, welcoming precautions and remained
Conference on Spatial Data the delegates, R Muthu, ready to face any disaster.
Infrastructure and its role in chairman of FICCI, Tamil Nadu Murari emphasised that with
Disaster Management’ , he said state council, recalled the loss of the latest developments in
though the government should life and devastation caused by science and technology, we
take the initiative, private the tsunami in the coastal need to develop signs of disasters
enterprise, NGOs and districts of the State last and translate them into
academia have a key role in December. Had we been intelligent signals, which in
making the National Spatial prepared for such a disaster, the turn should result in prompt
Data Infrastructure (NSDI) a situation wouldn’t have been so actions, so that the severity of
reality. bad, he pointed out. He also the disaster is minimised.
Noting that geospatial data was underlined the need for a “Think in terms of content
critical to every sphere of permanent and readily- dissemination of information
development activity now, the available infrastructure to face and mitigate and minimise loss
minister said such an such challenges. of life,’’ he exhorted. He also
infrastructure would minimise Vinod C Menon, Member, touched upon the importance of
duplication of efforts by various National Disaster Management trauma management in post-
agencies, improve the quality, Authority (NDMA), spoke at disaster situations and said that
reduce costs for geographic length on the use of organised it is essential for the victims to
information and make data spatial data in disaster be free of fear to continue life as
readily available to the user. He management. Explaining the before. An exhibition
said that all the individual role and responsibilities of showcasing the various
databases should be integrated NDMA, he said disaster and activities and devices
to create an information development are closely contributing to disaster
highway that could be put to a related. management also is on at the
variety of uses. venue.
2 FICCI News October 25, 2005
Who owns a disaster?
T he Central government? The State
government? The district adminis-
tration? The community or the indi-
to quantify the risk,
assess the damage,
which has no scien-
vidual? That question by chairperson tific basis yet, how
Amitabha Pande kickstarted a hot debate the databases could
at the round table with eminent persons help in reducing the
on its panel. vulnerability and
Answering this ques- what kind of spatial,
Prof Santosh
tion, Prof VK Gaur of social and economic
Kumar
the Indian Institute data is of importance.
of Astrophysics, Ban- Simultaneously, he pointed out certain
galore, said commu- concerns regarding the collection, reli-
nity participation is ability and sharing of data.
primary and unless Prof Vinod Vyasulu, Director, Centre for
the government in- Budget and Policy Studies, opined that
Prof VK Gaur volves people in a data should be collected, analysed and
substantive manner, it can never effect utilized at local level which would auto-
disaster management in an effective matically pave way for the aggregation
way. Taking the context of Kashmir and of data at the national level.
how people panicked during the recent Round Table With Eminent Persons in progress Development cannot
earthquake in the Valley, Maj Gen M be made sustainable
Gopal Rao felt that an intervention have the right for map information, Sur- who constitute eminent personalities unless there is a
mechanism that can regulate the over- veyor General M Gopal Rao said the gov- working on disasters and disaster man- proper disaster man-
whelmed public in the event of a disas- ernment would soon come up with guide- agement presented their views over the agement system in
ter is essential. lines that would clear the ambiguities theme. Prof VK Gaur, former secretary place, said Vandana
At this point, surrounding the map policy introduced of ocean development said it is time to Sharma, senior tech-
Amitabha Pande in May 2005 and would clear all ob- rethink taking the fourth dimension into nical director, Na-
pointed out that over stacles in the availability of map infor- account – anticipation for the future. Dr Vandana tional Informatics
the years, govern- mation. Sashidhar of Atomic Energy Prof KK Aggarwal, Vice Chancellor, Guru Sharma Centre and added
ments have behaved Regulatory Board (AERB) opined that Gobind Singh that no single solu-
as though they own data delayed is data denied and said that Indraprastha Uni- tion can be applied to disaster mitigation
the people and they it takes a lot of time even for government versity, Delhi, said and it requires multi-disciplinary ap-
know what is good organization like AERB to get data from his university has proach. The core requirement for effec-
and what is bad for Amitabha Pande government agencies. He requested that introduced an MBA tive disaster management is to integrate
the people. This made the people depend a single window mechanism be intro- course in disaster data from various fora and sectors
so much on the government that they duced for easy availability of data to the management for the seamlessly, she said.
stopped doing anything on themselves. users. Prof Gaur opined at this point that first time in the coun-
Taking the citizen’s
It is time that we unleash the potential a rational approach should be taken with Prof KK Aggarwal try. It is a multi-dis-
point of view, Anil K
of local communities so that a synergy regard to making the data available to ciplinary course drafted to produce a task
Sinha said that it is
could be created among the government various users and the industry. force who would be torch bearers in di-
important to assess if
at the top, administration and the citi- The focus of the debate then shifted to saster management. It is important not
all the people of an
zens who are at the receiving level. `SDI for whom?’ Making his remarks on to look at the short term benefits of disas-
affected area are
He also wondered why the government this issue, Anil K Sinha said technology ter management but to take stock of all
equally vulnerable
is ducking out on sharing map informa- is at one end and the common user at the tangible and non-tangible benefits, he
or not and the reasons
tion which is vital for development when end of the spectrum and unless technol- said. for the unequality. It Anil K Sinha
it was bold enough to introduce the Right ogy translates itself to reach the common
Raising a few policy issues, Prof Santosh is essential to start working with the
to Information Bill and get it ratified by man, it makes no sense. Kumar of National Institute of Disaster people for effective disaster manage-
the Parliament. Agreeing that people Earlier during the session, the panelists, Management, Delhi, said it is important ment, he opined.
Show of strength & innovation
Survey of India, Tata
Infotech Ltd, Lepton
Software Exports and
Research (P) Ltd, Astra
Microwave Products
Limited, Micro
technologies (India
Limited), Structural
Engineering research
Centre and Council of
Scientific and Industrial
Research. Some latest
equipment such as
Motorola’s Canopy,
Union Minister of State for Home Sri. S Regupathy inaugurating the exhibition Hewlett Packard’s
A n exhibition showcasing the various Designjet printers, Image Webserver
activities, achievements and 7.0, vehicle black box and home security
equipment developed by scientific system are on display at the exhibition.
organisations and the industry is on at The history and advancement that the
the `International Conference on Spatial country has made in various spheres of
Data Infrastructure and its role in science can be viewed and bought
Disaster Management’. through CDs at the stalls put up by
Inaugurated earlier in the day by different scientific organisations.
Minister of State for Home Affairs, S Products can be booked or bought over
Regupathy, the show has stalls by the counter. MM Active has organised
National Remote Sensing Agency, the exhibition.
October 25, 2005 FICCI News 3
Gallery It is time to change, says NDMA, a guide for
Prof Ramamurthy
- from page 1 disaster management
stakeholders to come out with a
good means to take stock of the
situation and provide ideal
solutions.
With its satellite images, Google
Earth has pronounced to the
country and to the world that
you cant live in yesterday’s
world and it is time to change.
The government may take
unrealistically long time to
react and act to this
development but it will
certainly act, he said.
Prof Ramamurthy unveiling the micro intelligent black box
He closed his remarks saying
Vinod C Menon, Member, NDMA makes a special presentation
that one cannot brush away a
threat perception but at the - from page 1 and easier. The geographical
same time one should not get response. information systems would be
overwhelmed by it. It has proposed setting up of di- applied in fields such as emer-
Earlier, Prof Ramamurthy saster management authorities gency medicine, search and res-
launched the micro intelligent at the state and district levels, cue, early warning, remote sens-
black box, designed by Micro and also has formed a National ing, disaster mitigation, trauma
Technologies, a disaster Disaster Response Force consist- management, institutional net-
management system for ing of eight battalions chosen working and spatial location of
unmanned location. A cultural from CRPF, CISF, ITBP and BSF. public amenities. Having a geo-
programme organized by the The NDMA believes that mak- graphical database for all these
department of art and culture, ing use of Spatial Data Infra- activities would certainly make
Government of Tamil Nadu structure, disaster management the operations quicker and more
followed. would be much more efficient focussed.
A delegate expressing his views
Cultural programme in progress
A section of the delegates listening to the conference proceedings
A stall at the exhibition
4 FICCI News October 25, 2005
Danger on the coast
W here there is a coast, there is a natu
ral hazard lurking. And in the con-
text of India, which has 7000 km of coast-
Cyclone Disaster Management. He also
added that as a result of cyclones, good
rainfall follows. Radio sonde, radar
line, the chance of some form of disaster winds, satellite, Doppler radar, data
occurring at any point of time seems per- buoy, ship, high wind speed recorders,
petual. So, it is wise to have mitigation are some of the tools and equipment used
measures in place, adapting to latest tech- to collect data by the department.
nologies that can provide early warning, Dr M Sakthivel, president of Aquacul-
felt speakers at the session on cyclone and ture Foundation of India, suggested that
tsunami. seaweed farming would be a viable op-
Dr Shetye, Director, National Institute tion for the fisherfolk and other coastal
of Oceanography, Goa, in his presenta- communities in the post-disaster sce-
tion on Marine hazards along the coast of nario. Terming seaweed as the medical
India, dwelt on the various well known food of the 21st century, he said farming
and lesser known natural hazards along of a variety known as kappaphycus
the Indian coastline, where about 25% of alvarezii required minimum infrastruc-
the country’s population lives within in ture such as bamboos, nylon sets and an-
50 Km of coastline. Session on Cyclone and Tsnami in progress chors alone to start the farming. A fam-
Apart from the storm surges, which hit ily through concerted efforts could eas-
tic and the Pacific oceans on either sides. network, argo floats, moored data buoys,
the eastern coast quite frequently, the ily make over one lakh rupees per an-
During the December satellites, bathymetry surveys and data
Indian coast is often affected with harm- num through this, he said. He added that
2004 tsunami, about buoys, he pointed out that we need to put
ful algal blooms, which clog gills of fish this variety of seaweed has great export
4% of tsunami en- in more efforts.
resulting in their mass deaths and causes potential.
ergy leaked into the S Sridharan, deputy director general
discolouration of the water. Dr Shetye Atlantic and 6% into Avinash Bector of Motorola, through
of Meteorology , Regional Meteorology
also briefed on hazards like tsunamis and Pacific. If not for these a presentation, explained the wireless
Centre, Chennai, pointed out that the
oil spills. windows, the tsu- broadband technology the company has
wisdom lay in being aware of the prob-
Detailing the role of nami would have developed called Canopy. It provides re-
lem, being prepared to meet it and in
armed forces in the been 10% stronger Tad Murty liable, scalable, secure, high speed
minimising the losses. Science and tech-
management of di- and four hours longer, said Murty, popu- nology is to be put to adequate use to internet access and private network in-
sasters, Brig RS larly known as Tad Murty. terconnection. Capable of delivering
achieve this, he said. He was presenting
Ahluwalia said af- data, video and voice, it is highly useful
Indian Ocean is similar to the Pacific but a paper on Spatial Data Acquisition in
ter the recent earth- in disaster situations for connectivity, he
much smaller and so the boundary con- India Meteorological Department for
quake in Kashmir pointed out.
ditions are different. So Indian Ocean
valley, the Indian model should be different to that of the
Brig RS Ahluwalia Army has responded
Pacific model. But however efficient a
in less than one hour rescuing people built system is, the amplitude and en-
from collapsed buildings using various ergy of tsunami waves cannot be simu-
modes. This to a very great extent re- lated because they depend on the inten-
duced the casualties, he said. During sity of the earthquake, depth of the ocean
similar crises in the past, the armed forces and the curvature of the earth, Murty
in India have always come to the aid of said.
the affected, Ahluwalia said and added
He opined that each state in India has its
that it’s a matter of pride for the country
own vulnerability profile and so should
that we could send relief material and
prepare its own inundation model – to
aid to countries ranging from Maldives,
model maximum amplitude, maximum
Srilanka and Indonesia (2004 tsunami)
horizontal extent of tsunami inundation,
to the USA (hurricane Katrina).
maximum currents and special hydro-
Talking about `Tsunamis - basics, detec- dynamic models.
tion and warning
These coastal models should be very de-
system’, Prof
tailed, he said. Listing out the tsunami
Narendra Saxena
hotspots on the Indian coasts, Murty said
of the University of
that geometry, curvature etc influence
Hawaii said about
the vulnerability of a particular site on
36.5 million square
the coast and added that Gulf of Kutch,
miles of the Pacific
Gulf of Cambay, followed by Andaman
Ocean is not mapped
Prof and Nicobar islands, Paradip in Orissa
yet and no sufficient
Narendra Saxena and Cuddalore and Nagapattinam on
data is available to
Tamil Nadu coast (in that order) are vul-
predict the tsunamis that cause immense
nerable.
destruction. A similar fate awaits the In-
dian Ocean if bathymetric analysis is not Making a presentation on Cyclone and
undertaken on time. Tsunami Warning System, Dr S
Kathiroli, Director, National Institute
Adapting to latest technologies like pres-
of Ocean Technology, explained the gen-
sure sensors and adequate satellite cov-
eral situation with regard to the occur-
erage will be helpful in providing real
rence of cyclones and tsunami all over
time data and information about the tsu-
the world. He pointed out that 6-7% of
namis, Prof Saxena opined and suggested
the world’s cyclones take place in the In-
that India has to learn from the pitfalls
dian Ocean.
of the Pacific system.
Explaining that the current capabilities
TS Murty of University of Ottawa de-
of India in monitoring tsunami are good
tailed on the `Numerical modelling for
with various equipment and tools such
the Indian Tsunami Warning System’.
as drifting buoys, tide gauges, seismic
Indian Ocean is connected to the Atlan-
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