5.2 General Instructions – District level

1. Each department should appoint a district level nodal officer for the purpose of disaster management activities. The appointed officer’s name, designation, and phone no, should be handed over to district authority before 30th May.

2. The district-level nodal officer should make sure that district disaster management authority has availed the data from the department concerned each day as per the format in Annexure 1. It should also be made sure that the day to day data from police, revenue, health, animal husbandry, KSEB, PWD, and LSGD have collected as it is needed to fill in the format.

3. The relatives of the deceased by the notified disaster are only reserved for assistance from the state disaster response fund. For this purpose, police can depend on FIR reports.

4. The nodal officer has to ensure that the data from the department concerned have been drafted in the format of Annexure 2 and sent to district disaster management authority at the end of the month before 11 o'clock AM of the working day. The district authority should also be certain of the availability of data.

5. Each EOC can contact Ernakulam district EOC for the help of the Navy and coast guard in case of death by drowning. The state EOC can seek the help of the central army only in the backdrop of notified calamity.

6. The rested disaster response duties of each should be noticed from the Handbook on Disaster Management – Volume 2 – Emergency Operations Centres & Emergency Support Functions Plan, Kerala available at

http://sdma.kerala.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/EOCESFP2015-Edition-2.pdf

7. As per the disaster management act, 2005 section 30(2) (v), all departments and local self-governments institutions are instructed to cut off trees and tree branches in their land in case they raise a threat to the life and the department concerned has to meet its expenses. A council that includes the secretary of local self-government institutions, village officer, and forest range officer should be assigned to chop the trees and tree branches. On the advice of this council, the chairman of the district disaster management authority can take the decision to cut off such trees and tree branches. Any department that does not follow instructions has a role responsibility to meet the consequences and expenses of accidents caused by such branches of trees. If it is not an emergency situation the trees can be chopped only after seeking the permission of the regional tree committee under the forest department. The State Emergency Relief Fund cannot be used for further trees maintenance. However, it can be used to remove a fallen tree in a notified disaster to restart transport and to search and rescue