The development of an emergency management (EM) program for Greater Mumbai intensifies with the near completion of its vital requirements and the participation of more agencies into MCGM’s EM system. As the last Field Investigation (FI) for the Emergency Management Team ends, the successes of the week plus event begin to unfurl. The Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) is almost complete with the review of its basic plan by both EMI and MCGM’s Project Implementation Teams and the members of the EM Focus Group (FG). Increasing the momentum further, MCGM is moving forward with the recommended functional and structural changes for their Disaster Management Unit; a breakthrough towards the development of an Emergency Operations Center (EOC). But the biggest achievement of the 10th FI was the finalization of all 14 EOP’s Emergency Support Function (ESF) annexes following the EMAP[1] international standards and the Government of India Incident Response Guidelines. This was made possible, through the constructive and responsible engagement of the more than 100 public, non-government and private institutions in Greater Mumbai that represent the key stakeholders of the project. The Lead and Supporting Agencies where identified for each of the ESF’s and an extraordinary collective effort was put by all the stakeholders to complete the ESF’s thereby determining roles and responsibilities prior, during and after a disaster. Experience has demonstrated that the ESF concept is a powerful mechanism for resolving the impediments to communication, planning and action in Disaster Risk Management (DRM) with significant gains in efficiency and productivity.
Strengthening the EM system in Greater Mumbai requires creating: 1) an EOP for the primary institutions involved in disaster response and the involvement different crucial agencies through the ESFs; and 2) an EOC equip with modern communication facilities, a media room, vital offices and an area for the ESF representatives to name some.
Apart from the EM component, the 10th FI also delved on flood and earthquake vulnerability risk assessment and FG meetings on the housing/shelter and constructions codes and standards subcomponents. The EMI visiting team is composed of Dr. Fouad Bendimerad, Mr. Jim Buika and Mr. Troy Kindred.
