1 Introduction: India faces a variety of hazards such as earthquakes, cyclones, drought, floods and emergencies due to accidents, terrorist attacks etc. Though India had been successfully managing disasters in the past, there are still a number of shortcomings which need to be addressed. The response today had to be far more comprehensive, effective, swift and well planned based on a well conceived response mechanism. Realization of certain shortcomings in response and a desire to address the critical gaps led Government of India to look at the world’s best practices and the Government of India found that the system evolved for firefighting in California, United States in the early 1970s as very comprehensive and thus decided to adopt Incident Command System (ICS). The ICS broadly refers to a management system to be used for incidents of various kinds and sizes such as earthquakes, floods, cyclones, landslides etc or emergencies caused by train accidents, epidemics etc. The system provides scope to organize various functions, tasks and staff within the overall response process while emphasizing greater coordination and communication among different organizations involved. ICS as a system is flexible and adaptable to suit any scale of natural as well as man-made emergency/incidents. It can be used for management of routine emergencies, events or complex-multi-jurisdictional disasters. Incident Command System provides a framework which makes use of management concepts such as unified command indicating clear line of authority, organizational flexibility for different scale of emergencies, standard terminology for better communication, resource management procedures for efficient use and systematic guidelines for an effective incident response. ICS in India The Disaster Management Act, 2005 brought about a paradigm shift in disaster management from a post event response to one of pre event prevention, mitigation and preparedness. Though India has a long history of battling disasters and providing adequate response, it was clearly realized that there were a number of shortcomings like: Lack of accountability because of adhoc and emergent nature of arrangements and no prior training for effective performance. Lack of an orderly and systematic planning process. Unclear chain of command and supervision of response activity and so on. In view of the paradigm shift towards improved pre- disaster preparedness, there is as urgent need for a proper and a well prepared response system which would have: 2 Well thought out pre-designated roles for each member of the response team; Systematic and complete planning process; System of accountability for the Incident Response Team members; Clear cut chain of command; Effective resource management; The Govt. of India decided to adopt the Incident Command System as practiced in USA in 2003. The ICS addresses most of the critical gaps in our disaster response mechanism even though there were certain India specific modifications which were necessary to be addressed. There was a need to prepare an Indian version which would fit into the Indian Administrative Structure. The National Disaster management Authority (NDMA) has taken up to adapt the ICS which incorporated the existing administrative structure and the provision of Disaster Management Act, 2005. The principles and features of ICS have been followed and comprehensive Guidelines have been prepared. This adaptive version is referred to as the Incident Response System or IRS. The Incident Response System (IRS) is an effective mechanism for reducing the scope for ad-hoc measures in response. It incorporates all the tasks that may be performed during disaster management irrespective of their level of complexity. It envisages a composite team with various Sections to attend to all the possible response requirements. The IRS identifies and designates officers to perform various duties and get them trained in their respective roles. The features of IRS are- 1) Management by Objectives 2) Unity of Command & Chain of Command 3) Transfer of Command 4) Organizational Flexibility 5) Span of Control 6) Area Command 7) Unified Command 8) Common Terminology 9) Accountability 10) Integrated Communications 11) Resource Management and 12) Incident Action Plan (IAP). Our State, Meghalaya is also prone to different types of hazards like earthquakes, landslides, cyclones, floods and emergencies due to accidents, terrorist attacks etc. The State being situated in Seismic Zone - V is highly vulnerable to earthquakes. During 1897 the state was severely affected by an 8.7 magnitude earthquake which resulted in untold miseries. The earthquake of 8.5 magnitude which occurred in 1950 also caused loss of human lives and properties. The State experiences several low to medium intensity earthquakes regularly. Apart from earthquakes, the Shillong city is affected by a number of landslides, storms, flash floods, fire accidents, road accidents and other kinds of hazards. It is also more vulnerable due to narrow lanes and bye-lanes, National Highway 44 passes through the middle of the city, increase in population and mushrooming of concrete buildings. Recently, the approach of the Government for dealing with disasters has undergone a change from Relief Oriented Approach to planning, preparedness and mitigation. The focus on capacity building of all the stakeholders is being given due emphasis for better management & response of disasters. 3 Incident Response Teams (IRTs) With this aim to effectively respond & manage disasters in the city of Shillong, the District Disaster Management Authority, East Khasi Hills District, Shillong has divided the city into 7 (seven) zones Police Station-wise along with formation of Incident Response Team (IRT) as per the National Disaster Management Authority Guidelines on Incident Response System. The Zones are as below- 1. Laitumkhrah – Zone I 2. Laban - Zone II 3. Sadar - Zone III 4. Lumdiengjri - Zone IV 5. Rynjah - Zone V 6. Madanryting - Zone VI 7. Mawlai - Zone VII Each zone is headed by the Incident Commander (IC) of the rank of Addl. Deputy Commissioner (ADC) and the Incident Response Team (IRT) will meet regularly or as desired by the IC & to report to the Responsible Officer (RO) who is the Deputy Commissioner. The IC will decide the station of his/her own IRT during emergency. The IRT zone-wise along with their contact numbers are shown in the next section. However, the roles and responsibilities of each IRT will be given separately. Due to lack of man power, the following decisions were made- The Deputy Incident Commander will take charge of the IRT in case of absence of the IC. The Information & Media Officer & Liaison Officer will be holding by the same Officer i.e. the EAC The District Transport Officer will look after Zone I, II & III. The Resource Unit Leader will also use his/her own resources for Check-in-status Recorder if not available. The Situation Unit Leader will use his/her own resources for Display Processor, Field Observer & Weather Observer if not available. The DM&HO will be the Medical Unit Leader for all the Zones. The RO may assign any IRT to any Block in case of emergency or disaster. The following officers will be assisting the RO & EOC in coordinating with all the IRTs in case of any emergency as shown in Table-1. The Superintendent of Police, East Khasi Hills District, Shillong 4 The Superintendent of Police, Fire & Emergency Service, Shillong The Superintendent of Police, Traffic The Chief Executive Officer, Shillong Municipal Board The Secretary, Meghalaya Urban Development Authority The Asst. Director, Information & Public Relations, East Khasi Hills District, Shillong The Joint Director, Supply The District Informatics Officer RESPONSIBLE OFFICER DC NODAL OFFICER, AIR OPERATIONS CEO, MUNICIPAL BOARD DISTRICT EOC INFORMATION & MEDIA OFFICER ASST. DIRECTOR, IPR LIAISON OFFICER SP, F & ES SAFETY OFFICER SP, EKH IC-I IC-II IC-III IC-IV IC-V IC-VI IC-VII Table 1: Core Incident Response Team of Responsible Officer The India Meteorological Department, Upper Shillong will assist in providing forecasting & warning to the EOC. All Weather Observers of all Zones are to contact Dr. A. C. Lyngdoh, IMD’s Office at 9863022211, 9774124655, 0364-2560106, 2560075 & IMD, Guwahati at 0361-2840552. 5 Symbols of IRS: Incident Command post Staging Area Incident Base Camp Relief Camp Heli Base Heli Pad 6 ZONE-I LOCALITIES UNDER LAITUMKHRAH POLICE STATION 1 Laitumkhrah Main Road 2 Lummawrie 3 Nongrimbah 4 Nongrim Road 5 Lumsohra Laitumkhrah 6 Nongrimmaw 7 Demseiniong 8 New Colony 9 Upland Road 10 Bomfyle Road 1 Kharmalki 2 Khliehshnong Wahkdait 3 Lumbalang 4 Nongmalki Malki 5 Nongshiliang 6 Pdengshnong 7 Dhankheti 8 Chinapatty 9 Nongpyngrope 1 Central Nongrim Hills Nongrim Hills 2 Lower Nongrim Hills 3 Upper Nongrim Hills Lumpyngngad 1 Lumpyngngad Cleve Colony 1 Cleve Colony Risa Colony 1 Risa Colony 1 Lumsohphoh Block I 2 Lumsohphoh Block II Lumsohphoh (Spring side) 3 Lumsohphoh Block III 4 Lumsohphoh East 5 Lumsohphoh West 1 Lachumiere Block I 2 Lachumiere Block II Lachumiere 3 Lachumiere Block III 4 Lachumiere Block IV Wah Dienglieng 1 Wah Dienglieng Lumdiengsoh (Motinagar) 1 Lumdiengsoh (Motinagar) 7 INCIDENT RESPONSE TEAM-I (IRT-I) LAITUMKHRAH COMMAND STAFF Designation Mobile No. Incident Commander (IC) Shri. Mark . A. Challam, EAC 9612775699 MCS Deputy Incident Commander EAC Information & Media Officer EAC (I&MO) Liaison Officer (LO) EAC Safety Officer (SO) B.L. Paswett Inspector 9436701482 / 0364-2223069 Oc.laitumkhrah- [email protected] GENERAL STAFF Operation Section Operation Section Chief Melissa M. Momin WPSI 9436706198 (OSC) Staging Area Manager R.S. Nahar SI 8794747227 Response Branch Director John Paul Lakiang SI 9863398734 Division Supervisor S. Kumar Hajong SI 7085965265 Task Force/Strike Team Shri. B. Myrthong Warden Search & Rescue (CD&HGS) (Deputy Controller C.D. Shillong) First Aid Team Demseiniong UHC Dr (Miss) Janet B. Medical 9612168320 Marwein Officer, Smti. Sheba Lyngdoh Staff Nurse, 8258017280/961 Mawphlang 5355992 Smt. Greanlet C. Sun ANM 8132001061/841 4960696 Smt. Onida Kharkongor ANM 7085850698 8 Smt.