According to officials, the Cachar district administration in Assam has developed an AI-powered tool to strengthen communication between the public, law enforcement, and government during floods.
According to the officials, the Rapid Action for Humanitarian Assistance in Tragedies (RAHAT) app will be crucial in disseminating vital information for early warning, evacuation, search and rescue, and the provision of necessities, particularly in distant places.
The state disaster management reports that in 18 districts and 898 villages last year, 324,938 individuals were affected. One of the Assamese districts most impacted by flooding was Cachar. The district disaster management authority (DDMA) reports that during the 2022 floods, over 85% of the total population was affected and that the district had the greatest number of deaths in the state, with over 45.
According to officials, there was relatively little rainfall in 2023; however, based on historical statistics, more rain is anticipated this year. According to the data, there are significant rains every other year, according to officials.
According to officials, this software will significantly alter how ICT is integrated and used in the district for disaster risk reduction, mitigation, response, and recovery.
In order to share vital information for early warning, evacuation, search and rescue, supply of necessities like medical aids, management of relief camps and centres, damage and loss assessment, resource prepositioning, etc., this app would perform significant functionalities even in data shadow areas, according to Cachar district commissioner Rohan Kumar Jha.
According to him, the programme will give the line departments the ability to choose the kind of catastrophic occurrence and contain a feature that lets them add details about the context of the damage.
He declared, “We are currently scaling this interface with artificial intelligence for an effective decision support system.”
Along with the admin login, officials claim that this interface allows the relief centre in charge to log in and enter data for gratuitous relief (GR) and related matters for camp/center management (digitised data for GR distribution and sanctioning rehabilitation grants in favour of concerned beneficiaries, etc.), nodal response agencies and departments, and CQRT volunteers with the necessary security measures to prevent data being stolen.
Shamin Ahmed Choudhury, the district project officer of DDMA, Cachar, stated that this is the first application of its sort in Assam and that they have shared the concept with the state government.
After releasing the app, we have received positive feedback, and we have urged the state government to use this in other areas that are vulnerable to flooding. They’ve demonstrated a favourable interest,” he stated.
