Public should be alerted, says monsoon preparedness document

Protocol to be followed for six small dams in State

The public should be adequately alerted even at night when water is released at short notice from the smaller dams and if there is a chance of it overflowing the banks, states the Monsoon Preparedness and Response Guidelines issued by the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA).

A Kerala Water Authority (KWA) decision to open five shutters of the small Aruvikkara dam in the early hours of May 22 had sparked off a debate on whether protocols were followed, after low-lying areas along the Karamana river were inundated.

The updated Monsoon Preparedness and Response Guidelines along with the Orange Book on standard operating procedures for disaster management were released here by Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan on Tuesday.

The monsoon document outlines the protocol to be followed for six small dams — Moozhiyar in Pathanamthitta; Kallar, Irattayar, Lower Periyar, and Kallarkutti in Idukki; and Aruvikkara in Thiruvananthapuram — where sudden downpour necessitates the release of water at short notice.

Public address system

The police, local bodies and the Fire and Rescue Services should be directed to immediately warn the public through public address system — even at night — if water is likely to overflow the banks, says the document.

The following representatives of the people and officials of local bodies along the route of the water flow should be alerted; district panchayat president, secretaries of grama panchayats, municipalities and Corporations, president, chairman and Mayor, tahsildar, and village officer.

Print and visual media should be informed. The warning should also be posted on the social media platform of the District Collector and the website of the district administration.

Additionally, if other districts are involved, the district emergency operations centre concerned also has to be warned. In the case of Aruvikkara, both the KWA and the district administration had denied lapses.