The Cachar district administration in Assam has introduced a mobile application to address flood emergencies by establishing effective communication between the public, security personnel, and the government. Officials have stated that this app utilizes Artificial Intelligence technology.
The officials have stated that the app RAHAT, which stands for Rapid Action for Humanitarian Assistance in Tragedies, will have a major impact on the sharing of vital information for early warning, evacuation, search and rescue, and the delivery of essential supplies, particularly in remote areas.
Cachar emerged as one of the districts worst hit by floods in Assam. District Disaster Management Authority officials reported that more than 85 per cent of the entire population endured the impact of the 2022 floods. The state recorded over 45 fatalities, marking the highest death toll in the region that year.
Officials stated that there was a lower amount of rainfall in 2023 compared to previous years, and they anticipate higher levels of precipitation this year based on historical data. "If we look at the records, heavy rains happen in every alternative year," officials said.
This application is set to revolutionize the integration and utilization of ICT in district-wide disaster risk management, including prevention, reduction, response, and recovery.
"This app would perform significant functionalities even in data shadow areas in sharing critical information for dissemination of early warning, evacuation, search and rescue, supply of essential items including medical aids, relief camp/centre management, damage and loss assessment, prepositioning of resources etc," said Cachar District Commissioner Rohan Kumar Jha.
He stated that the app would enable the various departments to choose the kind of disaster and offer the choice to input details about the extent of the damage.
"Scaling this interface with Artificial Intelligence for an efficient decision support system is already underway," he added.
Officials stated that, in addition to the administrative login, this platform allows relief center leaders to input data for Gratuitous Relief (GR) and associated issues related to camp/center management (digitalized data for GR distribution and approving Rehabilitation Grants for the respective beneficiary, etc.), as well as for nodal response agencies/departments and CQRT volunteers, with suitable security measures in place to safeguard the data.
The District project officer of DDMA, Cachar, Shamin Ahmed Choudhury, stated that this is the inaugural application of its kind in Assam, and they have communicated the concept to the state government.
"We are getting good response after launching the app and we have appealed to the state authorities to adopt this in other flood-prone districts. They have shown positive interest," he said.
