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In Fritz institute's research, a whopping 60 percent of aid agencies in India said that available warehouse facilities were inadequate to support their Tsunami relief efforts. Another 40 percent said they lacked transportation to carry relief supplies to victims.
Logistic management should be improved to support national society's disaster response by the further development and extension of logistics units. Managing and implementing regionalization of logistics capacities is another priority.

Technology support required for disaster management fall in the category of observations, data collection, networking, communication, warning dissemination, service delivery mechanisms, GIS databases, expert analysis systems, information resources etc. The disaster information infrastructure encompasses three subsystems: knowledge infrastructure, interconnectivity infrastructure and integration infrastructure. Knowledge infrastructure involves observation techniques for data collection and visualization, information analysis, event forecasting, knowledge modeling and information management. Interconnectivity subsystem relates to the mode of communication employed to retrieve and distribute data and dissemination of information products. Integration infrastructure addresses the operational system, standards and protocols, procedures for evaluation of quality and reliability and training of key personal.

In the case of humanitarian organizations, because each project is funded separately, field staff turnover is very high, sometimes as much as 80%. Therefore, the tacit knowledge of aid workers is often lost at the end of a major operation. Projects conducted on behalf of its partners should include mapping the supply chains of relief organizations, documenting common weaknesses, and collecting data on the delivery of supplies during relief operations. Results also should be discussed with the corporate and aid agency partners and alternative solutions are generated and evaluated.

Hence, we see from various examples that supply chain management during natural disasters is different to a certain extent as it involves peoples and their lives rather than goods. So, a more careful model should be adopted based on the issues discussed in the paper.

Concluded.

* Contributed by: -
Anshuman Harjai & Ibin Issac Abraham,
Management Development Institute, Gurgaon.