HADR Operations the Focus Area 

Port Blair, Feb 5: For the littorals of Bay of Bengal and Asia Pacific region a natural disaster in the form of an earthquake, the resultant tsunami or a cyclone is an omnipresent threat. These natural disasters often leave behind a trail of devastation and turmoil. Such disasters cannot be prevented. However, the devastation caused by such disasters can be minimised through proactive planning and effective rescue and response. The maritime forces have traditionally been at the forefront of such relief operations because of specialist skills, equipment and manpower at their disposal. Many of the nations participating in MILAN 2014 have had to face such disasters from nature’s fury. These nationshave evolved their own mechanisms and procedures to deal with natural calamities and catastrophes. There is substantial gain to be accrued from sharing these experiences and expertise on dealing with disaster relief operations and humanitarian assistance efforts as nature sees no distinction between countries or people. It is with his aim that an ‘International maritime Seminar’ focusing on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations was organised the Andaman and Nicobar Command as part of MILAN 2014. The Seminar was held at the ‘Dweepika’ auditorium on 05 Feb 14. The main them of the maritime seminar was ‘Maritime Cooperation for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Operations’.

The seminar was inaugurated by Lt Gen (Retd) A K Singh, PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM the Hon’ble Lt Governor, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In his opening address the Hon’ble Lt Governor welcomed the foreign delegates and ships to the islands. He expressed appreciation for the Indian Navy for its initiative, MILAN, which not only provides an excellent opportunity to the participating maritime forces for interaction on operational, cultural and social fronts, but also showcases the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and its rich heritage and culture as a world class tourist destination. In his inaugural address, he brought to notice of the audience that the Andaman & Nicobar Islands are situated in a high incidence zone of seismic activity and apprised them about the various measures that have been instituted for mitigating the adverse effects of natural disasters, including the Emergency and Communication Network of 34 Tsunami Sirens and 13 Electronic Display Boards. He also informed the audience of the successful conduct of the National Level Disaster Management Exercise on 22 Nov 13 by the Andaman and Nicobar administration despite the extensive spread of the 37 inhabited islands, which came in very handy as the Islands had to face the brunt of Cyclone Leharso on thereafter. He expressed that in view of the remoteness and logistics involved, communication and disaster management in such types of islands pose a challenge and stated that co-operation with our neighbours in South East Asia and Asia Pacific can come in very handy whether it is for tsunami warning, weather forecasting or pooling resources for disaster management. He concluded his address by felicitating the Andaman and Nicobar Command for organising the seminar and to all the friendly foreign maritime forces and delegates for participating in this edition of MILAN.

The Keynote Address for the seminar was delivered by Admiral DK Joshi, PVSM,AVSM, VSM, YSM, NM, ADC, Chief of the Naval Staff. He expressed great satisfaction over the fact that exercise MILAN has been growing from strength to strength with each passing edition and has matured into an effective platform for common understanding across maritime boundaries. He expressed that HADR Operations is closely linked with the safety and well being of our citizens and figures prominently in the human security calculus of most island nations and coastal states. He stated that the threat of natural, especially hydro-meteorological disasters such as cyclones and floods will remain a serious and common challenge and focussed and sustained efforts are needed in this area. He mentioned that theis common challenge requires co-operation between nations and navies to mitigate losses and improve disaster management. He expressed that India has always been willing participant in maritime HADR efforts in the region and beyond, in consonance with the country’s policy of friendship and co-operation. He mentioned the various instances of prompt and effective assistance rendered by the Indian Navy in the last few years in neighbouring countries during times of natural disaster. The Admiral also highlighted some critical aspects of HADR operations for deliberations during the seminar. The need for developing capacity and to develop procedures based on common principles and considerations. He stated that ‘Rapid Deployment’, Co-ordination, Logistics and Medical Aid are cardinal considerations for founding the common procedures for HADR operations. He expressed appreciation for the concerted efforts to enhance HADR co-operation and training in the region, such as ADMM Plus HADR exercise hosted by Brunei in June 2013 and Exercise Komodo, being hosted by Indonesia, next month, and stated that this seminar and the Table-Top exercise, being conducted under the aegis of MILAN would contribute to these efforts. He also mentioned that work is in progress towards developing a Standard Operating Procedure for HADR under the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS). The Admiral concluded his address with the remark that Naval Forces are, and would continue to be one of the primary responders for HADR efforts and it is incumbent upon the men and women in uniform, to be ever-prepared for such tasks.

The proceedings of the seminar were progressed in three sessions. The first session focused on ‘Maritime Cooperation for Disaster Preparedness and Response’ and was moderated by Vice Admiral (Retd) Anup Singh, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, NM who is an enthusiast of maritime issues and is closely associated with some think tanks at Delhi. Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Kapil Kak who has represented India at a number of ‘Track II’ conferences on international security and defence issues presented the first paper in this session which was followed by a paper by First Admiral Amarulla Octavia the Commander of Sea Battle Group of Eastern Fleet of Indonesia. The focus area of the second session was ‘Capacity Building for Coordinated HADR Operations’ and it was moderated by Captain George Ambathe Commander, Fleet Marine Ready Force of the Philippines Navy. Vice Adm (Retd) Anup Singh presented the first paper and was followed by a paper by Dr (Mrs) Janki Andharia who is the Chairperson of the Centre for Disaster Management at Tata Institute of Social sciences.  ‘Mechanisms for Sharing of Best Practices through fora such as Milan and IONS’ was deliberated upon in the third session. The session was moderated by Mrs Punya Salila Srivastava, Commissioner cum Secretary, Andaman and Nicobar Administration. Dr P K Ghosh Senior Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation and Capt Robert Plath, Commander Mine Warfare, COMMHP, Royal Australian Navy presented their papers during this session.

The seminar concluded with the Closing Address by Air Marshal P K Roy, PVSM, AVSM, VM, VSM, ADC, Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command. The Air Marshal stated that ‘Cooperation and Capacity Building’ clearly stood out as the common strand connecting the varied ideas presented during the seminar. He reiterated that the enormity of managing any natural disaster calls for collective and collaborative efforts so that succour can be provided to the needy in the shortest possible time in a most efficient manner. He stated that seamless coordination can only be achieved if SOPs are in place and practiced at periodic intervals and that interoperability of communication and information management is crucial for the success of any relief operation. He supported the idea of modular crisis coordination centre, use of web based portal for effective coordination of response at the scene of action by international response teams and international standardising of relief bricks. The Air Marshal concluded his address thanking the Hon’ble Lt Governor, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Chief of the Naval Staff for the encouragement, support and guidance extended by them. He also complimented all the speakers for their insightful and thought-provoking papers.