Even as the climate change-induced disasters continue to strike various parts of the country during the monsoon period, Kerala, which introduced the concept of ‘orange book’ in 2019 – a document detailing the standard operations procedure and emergency support plans to be followed by the State and Union government agencies in the event of a disaster – has not yet updated the document, despite the southwest monsoon crossing half of the season in the State this year.
The State has to release the updated handbook ahead of every monsoon season, incorporating the lessons learnt from the previous years and updating the standard operating procedures, along with adopting new protocols for enhancing emergency preparedness and response capacity of various departments. The handbook also provides details of the crisis management mechanism in place at the State, district, and taluk levels; the procedures to be followed during hazardous categories of rainfall, floods, cyclones, tsunamis, high waves, and landslides and the suo motu responsibilities of various departments during emergencies.
