Transport,Communication and Technology

It is evident that the disasters are inevitable, understanding the vulnerability of the State and reoccurrence of the floods second year in the row. Uninterrupted access and communication during the rescue and relief operations hold the key to saving lives and minimizing the damages from the floods or any other natural calamity. Public transport services and transport infrastructure underpin economic activity by enabling the movement of goods and people. During extreme weather events, transport infrastructure can be directly or indirectly damaged, posing a threat to human safety, and causing significant disruption and associated economic and social impacts. Flooding, especially as a result of intense precipitation, is the predominant cause of weather-related disruption to the transport sector. Existing approaches to assess the disruptive impact of flooding on road transport fail to capture the interactions between floodwater and the transport system, typically assuming a road is fully operational or fully blocked, which is not supported by observations. Kerala being narrow state flanked by the Western Ghats other modes such as railway services also get easily disrupted during these disasters.

Apart from flash floods, most other floods allow some warning time. In most situations, if emergency preparedness is planned appropriately people getting stranded at vulnerable locations can be avoided to a certain extent. Hence, planning and preparation ahead of such events are crucial. The State machinery has played its role in rescue and relief operations during the floods in the past two years. However, if resilient communities contribute to maintaining uninterrupted communication and transportation during future disasters, a sizeable amount of lives and losses can be averted. For better planning for such future calamities, GoK is seeking inputs from the community for rebuilding resilient and flood-proof transport infrastructure and communication strategies.

1. How can the hotspots susceptible to blockade due to floods be identified? And what are the measures that need to be taken to avoid isolation of community/ area during the floods?
2. How can the early warning systems be improved? Are there any triggers that can be used at the community level to indicate disasters?
3. In case a certain portion of the community gets isolated or acutely affected during disasters what can be the means to communicate or carry out rescue/relief operations? What can be alternatives to navigate during disasters with no means of communication or transport?
4. What can be done to improve the effectiveness of communication during such events for the vulnerable community?
5. What is the general/community-based procedure/means to evacuate and where should be the affected community evacuated?
6. What are the most critical transport routes which get flooded or affected in case of disaster? What can be the measures to improve the resilience of such critical transport routes?
7. Are there any alternatives that can be used for flood relief/rescue which were not used previously?
8. What are the social mechanisms and systems that could be established and maintained (especially in the more vulnerable localities) that could effectively keep a watch over the area, gather and maintain information on the emergency services available in and near the place, educate the society and facilitate early warning systems, and provide support to officials during an event of calamity?
9. What are the expectations from the transport infrastructure during the flood relief and rescue in urban/rural areas and for areas prone to various calamities?
10. What should be critical aspects that should be kept in mind while designing roads and related infrastructure in susceptible areas?
11. What are the various local technology solutions that can be used for making the roads and other transport infrastructure resilient?
What are the emergency services that need to be operational and connected via transport infrastructure during all kind of disasters (for example, your local State/ Territory emergency service office, police, ambulance, hospital, and essential services, for example, gas and electricity,etc.)?