Sabarimala: For the first time in the history of Sabarimala, an Incident Command Post (ICP) has been started functioning at Sannidhanam. The ICP, which comes under the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), set up at Pampa by the Pathanamthitta District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) and Institute of Land and Disaster Management, Thiruvananthapuram, provides a platform for various departments to meet and discuss the strategies and precautions during emergencies.
The EOC at Pampa started functioning in November under Pathanamthitta district collector Girija R. who also heads the DDMA.
The ICP is equipped with six types of communication facilities including a hotline, telephone, fax, voice over internet protocol (VOIP), the internet and wireless radio.
The 24-hour facility also has visual aids including the maps of Sannidhanam and nearby areas for better planning the actions. EOC in-charge and Institute of Land and Disaster Management assistant professor Amalraj M. said the ICP and the EOC would help the security forces better manage the crowd and plan to handle the rush.
“We are also expecting a police wireless set soon at the ICP. At Pampa EOC, we have 15 different modes of communication facilities to use in case of emergencies. We also have a detailed resource inventory which would help various departments including security forces for effective disaster management as well to avert such disasters,” he said.
The ICP and the EOC also collect the data related to the inflow, outflow and stay back devotees and share it with departments concerned via SMS. A WhatsApp group is also active for effective communication between the departments.
