Thursday, December 30 2004 14:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: NDA (National Democratic Alliance) Convenor and JD-U (Janata Dal-United) leader George Fernandes, just back from a tour of Tsunami-affected areas, today (Dec 30) said the calamity had exposed the lacunae in our disaster management set-up and complained that the Government machinery had been found wanting at all levels in the relief and rescue efforts.

He, however, also admitted that the erstwhile NDA Government had also failed to learn its lessons from the Gujarat quake and Orissa cyclone and did not take adequate steps to put in place a proper disaster management machinery.

"I went on a two-day tour of the Tsunami-affected areas in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, from Thiruvananthapuram to Chennai. I met the people, and everywhere I heard the complaint that the Government officials have not fulfilled their responsibilities," Fernandes said.

The number of casualties would not have been so high had the Government taken concrete steps to set up a special department for disaster management, he said.

"Even during the tenure of the NDA Government, there were two major disasters, the Gujarat quake and the Orissa cyclone. On both occasions, decision was taken that a separate department be set up for disaster management and personnel be trained to especially deal with calamities. But we were not successful in that," he said.

"This time also, nobody was in a state to react immediately," he said.

The JDU leader, meanwhile, announced that all MPs and MLAs belonging to the party would donate their one month's salary to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund.