Chennai: Greater Chennai Corporation will launch a ‘volunteers registration app’ next week as part of its monsoon preparedness drive, through which residents can register to help in relief and rescue operations in the event of floods or other disasters.After a meeting chaired by additional chief secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi with several departments, GCC officials said that as part of the disaster response plan, the civic body is preparing 215 flood relief centres and 111 community kitchens.GCC has kept 36 of its boats and 275 fishing boats, arranged through fisheries dept, on standby along with trained operators. Emergency vehicles, heavy machinery, motor pumps and mechanised tree-cutters have also been kept ready for deployment.Civic work such as desilting is underway across 1,671 km of stormwater drains and 1,10,082 silt catch pits across the city, a GCC official said.Of 207 vulnerable locations across the city, stormwater drains have been constructed at 117 locations, while modular storage tanks equipped with high-capacity discharge pumps have been installed at 20. Dedicated motor pumps have been stationed at another 48 locations, with alternative engineered solutions being implemented in the remaining vulnerable areas.GCC’s Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) 1913 helpline and social media monitoring systems will also be used to receive and address public complaints.Shativel N of Vyasai Thozhargal said, “In our experience, many people are left without internet or electricity during floods. So, we do not know how useful an app will be. GCC must conduct awareness campaigns before the floods, explaining how to use the app and what it will contain. It may be useful, but nothing beats having enough people on the ground,” he said.GCC executive engineer M Muthiah said the app would be particularly useful for mobilising area-centric relief efforts. “Many NGOs are working across the city, and residents and NGOs can be brought together on a common platform. Those in need can raise requests through the app, and the nearest volunteer can be identified,” he said.
