Civil Defence officials busy with state-level games underway at Balewadi

The monsoon gave the Civil Defence some bonus time to come up with a disaster management cell before its arrival, but the authorities spent it elsewhere. They were busy preparingu00a0 the ground for a state-level sports event that began at Balewadi yesterday. As a result, the city still lacks a disaster management cell.

In accordance with an amendment in the Civil Defence Act, 1968, Parliament last year passed a resolution that put the responsibility of disaster management on the Civil Defence in every state. The Civil Defence Home Guard office in Yerawada was sanctioned Rs 15 crore for modernisation, and 8.5 lakh volunteers came forward in the city for the purpose.

But even the helpline numbers (020-20261119 or 020-26362072) given out to people are still not functional.
Sanjeevan Joshi, additional controller, Civil Defence, Greater Mumbai, said the Civil Defence in the city will begin disaster management work from tomorrow. "The monsoon is active after June 15. We'll provide manpower and equipment in flood situations," he said.