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| How effective Disaster-Responsive AutomaticVending Machines can be in disasters | | | Dr. Manzoor Ahmad Yetoo
Vending machines can be set up at various locations along the streets, focusing on major roadways, not only serve as a source of drinking water when a natural disaster occurs, but are also expected to serve as contact points for information networks and places for providing electricity. While there has been various research and development until now regarding methods of using vending machines during natural disasters, there has been very little research and development dealing not only primarily with hardware but also with software that supports the efficient use of vending machines for the needs of disaster victims when a disaster occurs.
Indian Govt as well as Jammu and Kashmir state authorities, shall promotes disaster prevention research through synthesis of humanities and the sciences, aiming to construct disaster mitigation systems that use vending machines built to respond to disaster, based on ordinary vending machines distributed throughout towns, through R&D of vending machines and examination of the regional communities that support those activities.The research shall be planned as;.
1. Community management of vending machines for safety and security.
2. Support of resident victims' lifestyle through vending machines.
3. Support of people walking home through networking of vending machines.
4. Systems to keep an eye on the area through vending machines.
JAPAN has already designed- Vending machines to help people survive disasters through such services as providing beverages for free and displaying emergency bulletins since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. The trend is a combination of local municipalities' need to increase their emergency stockpiles at lower costs and the desire among beverage makers to enhance their corporate image through social contributions. Meanwhile, experts have pointed out that vending machines weighing several hundred kilograms can fall over and kill people in massive disasters such as a much-feared Nankai Trough earthquake. An industry-related body is taking measures to prevent such accidents.
When the Great East Japan Earthquake hit on March 11, 2011, Coca-Cola Japan Co. took advantage of the remote control functions on about 400 disaster-relief vending machines, equipped with batteries for backup, in the Tokyo metropolitan area and other locations.
The Tokyo-headquartered company offered more than 88,000 of its beverages for free to people who had difficulty returning home in the aftermath of the disaster.
The number of such disaster-relief vending machines jumped to about 8,000 as of the end of July from about 6,000 before the 2011 disaster. Coca-Cola plans to further increase the number.
There is also need to keep solar panels and battery back ups to such machines with capacity of providing lighting arrangements and power supplies during the course of disaster and above all uninterrupted network of communications which can help in rescue operations and location of dislocated and disaster effected people who need immediate relief.
India also can start such initiative as it has already installed vending machines at air ports and has got the ability, infrastructure and trained manpower but an effective political will and plan is the need of an hour.
The author is an expert in environment ,project & waste Management, occupational safety& health & pollution control and empanelled expert for IRCA).
(You may reach him at
[email protected]) |
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