A)  Introduction :

In accordance with the provisions of Disaster Management Act 2005, NDMA guidelines and Govt. instructions, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) at state level are functioning. The SEOC plays an important role in effective early warning dissemination, multi-agency coordination, and inter-governmental response and post disaster relief, restoration and recovery activities. The Guiding Documents mainly followed by SEOC for Disaster Management are:-

• Relief Manual
• Disaster Management Act, 2005
• Guidelines issued by NDMA
• Guidelines & Instructions issued from time to time by SDMA
• State Disaster Management Plan
• Practices & Precedents

B) Salient Features of SEOC :

Infrastructure :

• The State Emergency Operation Centre is operational at Room no.203, Nabanna under the Department of Disaster Management & Civil Defence with state of art technology.
• The SEOC is enabled with 24 x 7 x 365 days internet facility, during natural calamity also.
• Satellite phones are kept at the SEOC for maintaining uninterrupted communication with all district head quarters and vulnerable blocks.
• The warnings receive at the state level are communicated to the District Magistrates through telephone / Wireless / E-mail / social media etc.

Manpower :

The SEOC is manned with Disaster Management Officers and other officials, staffs & civic defense volunteers.

Performance :

• Collect all types of damage data in each of the  disaster and  keep records of rescue and relief distribution related information of such disasters
• Deal with various NDMA sponsored schemes
• Preparation of yearly calendar for training & awareness generation.
• Keep close liaisons with Disaster Management Sections of all districts including Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
• Facilitate and strengthen the reporting system for dissemination of information to the different agencies involved in Disaster Management activities
• Assist in classifying and compiling various knowledge products such as reports, training manuals, handbooks, audio-visual materials, IEC materials and other publications
• Document and conduct studies best practices and lessons learnt, development of reports, briefs, fact sheets, training manuals and other publications
• Preparing / reviewing and up-dation of State Disaster Management Plan
• Vetting and periodical review of Disaster Management Plans of key Departments of State Government
• Develop guidelines and review of projects of state Government schemes from DRR perspective
• Organize and Supervise Mock Drills in hazard prone/vulnerable area on specific disasters for identifying gaps

EOC Monitoring of Alerts & transmission alerts :

1. The EOC monitor will always keep INCOIS, NDEM web-portal and IMD website switched on 24X7 and look for alerts.
2. On receiving a weather forecast/alert immediately disseminate to the concerned section.

Communication Technology System for SEOC :

The SEOC has been designed as the central operation center for coordination of all District and Block EOC. It is the central hub for communication and emergency management for the state.

Project Extension of ERSS at SEOC :

The project "Extension of Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) (Dial 112) for Disaster Emergencies" aims to provide a unified platform for reception & handling all emergency requests related to disaster events. Distress signals initially land at the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) of the ERSS at Bhawani Bhavan, Alipore. Various signal gateways receive the signals and deliver to the Call-Takers at PSAP. After assessing the nature & severity of the calls they dispatch the signal to the SEOC for further actions, if found disaster related and genuine as well. A citizen may seek help in the event of a disaster by- i) dialing 112 from his/her phone, ii) sending SMS to the specified number from the phone, iii) press ‘Disaster’ button on the ‘112 India App’, iv) sending e-mail. On receipt of distress call the operators further takes notes of the grievance of the caller, consequently they inform the concerned ground level disaster managers about the grievance of the caller and monitors the grievance until a satisfactory Action Taken Report is received and the aggrieved caller is satisfied. The call is closed only after the caller is satisfied.

Besides ERSS a distressed person affected by any calamity can also call to disaster helpline “1070” which is a toll-free number for Disaster Management of the State of West Bengal. Similar methodology is adapted for redressal of the grievance of the distressed caller.

Setting up of Special Control Room :

This control room serves as the State Control Room as it is equipped with all kind of infrastructure for running control room. From time to time this SEOC has performed for any major incident.

DISTRICT EMERGENCY OPERATION CENTRE (DEOC)

Similar, EOCs are functional at District Level generally at the office of the District Magistrates. The manpower and logistics of the DEOC is under the control of the District Magistrate of the Concerned District.

• During Monsoon period and on special occasions similar EOCs are also opened in Sub Division and Block Level.
• The concept of SEOC and DEOC is in conformity with the Incident Response System (IRS) adopted by NDMA.

List of SEOC & DEOC - Click Here