‘Odisha’s 5T Disaster Management Model Best…’: Balasore IG Lauds Rescue Ops After Train Crash

Balasore inspector general of police Himanshu Kumar Lal, who led the search and rescue operations for the triple train crash, said Odisha’s disaster management model based on the ‘5T action points’ was the “best” in the world. The IPS officer, who stayed at the accident site for four straight days, said more than a thousand lives could be saved due to use of technology and team effort.

Lauding the massive rescue efforts, Lal said the Naveen Patnaik-led government had adopted an “every life is precious” approach towards such crises. He added that there was timely mobilisation of 500 ambulances while police, civil administration, disaster management teams, hospitals, doctors, civilians, NGOs among others were there at the spot in no time.

“This is #5T model of disaster management in Odisha. Through extremely timely mobilisation of 500 ambulances within no time, police, civil administration, ODRAF, civilians, hospitals, NGOs, doctors, homeguards, NDRF railways and all relevant senior officers and resources, more than thousand lives could be saved with the use of technology in the most transparent manner by a great team effort. ‘Every life is precious’. This is perhaps the best transformative disaster management model in the world. #OdishaCares” the officer tweeted, using all the ‘5T action points’ adopted as the state’s governance model.

This is not the first time the BJD government has excelled at mitigating such large-scale incidents. The state’s massive pre-disaster planning has held it in good stead in some of its toughest hours – be it cyclonic storm Fani in May 2019 or Phailin in 2013. The state’s ‘5T action points’ are five factors – team work, technology, transparency, transformation and time limit – on which all government officials and projects are assessed.

On Tuesday, addressing a programme where over 1,000 medical officers were present, Patnaik claimed that the people of the state had saved over 1,000 human lives in the train crash as they swung into action immediately. He said people provided support to rescue operations and the long queues for blood donation were “sights rare but invaluable”.

The chief minister said Odisha’s people showed compassion and humanity at a time of dire crisis. “Doctors, medical students, general public, and all had one thing in mind – Let’s save lives, as many as we can. And we have saved more than a thousand lives. People providing support to rescue operations and the long queues for blood donation are sights rare but invaluable. I am proud of my people. I am proud of Odisha,” Patnaik said.

The CM also claimed that the administration got into action mode as soon as the news surfaced. “Ministers, top officers, supporting staff… all were at the site of accident and health centres, making arrangements and monitoring the rescue operation and treatment of injured,” he said.

He also spoke about Odisha’s success in managing cyclones and Covid-19 with long and medium-term strategies. He said the state had enough pratice to effortlessly manage such a crisis.

The state government also revised the death toll to 288. Chief secretary PK Jena said 275 deaths were confirmed till Monday, and after verification of bodies, the figure was raised to 288. He said 205 bodies have been identified so far and handed over to their families. The remaining 83 bodies were kept at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar and other hospitals for identification, he said.

(With PTI inputs)