State to have a dedicated disaster management research institute
Uttarakhand would set up a dedicated Disaster Management Research Institute. The state would also make innovative efforts for training and capacity building of the masses in disaster management. The state minister for disaster management Dhan Singh Rawat said this during the meeting of the high level expert committee at Bijapur guest house here on Wednesday. The expert committee has been constituted by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to study the Chamoli disaster of February 7. In his address Rawat highlighted the disaster vulnerability of the Himalayan region and stressed the need of striking a balance between developmental initiatives, disaster safety and welfare of the masses. He opined that the barrier formed in the Rishiganga River is wide enough and has a gentle slope. The minister however stressed upon the need of evaluating the threat posed by the same.
At the start of the meeting the Member NDMA, Lieutenant General (Retd) Ata Hasnain briefed about the objectives of the two expert committees. He said that Uttarakhand is the recipient of Subash Chandra Bose Rashtriya Apada Prabandhan Puruskar 2020 and appreciated the disaster management initiatives of the state.
The team leader of the first team of experts gave a presentation on the methodology to be adopted for establishing the causes of the disaster while the team leader of the second team described the course of action to be adopted.
The flash flood in the catchment of Dhauliganaga river of Chamoli district claimed 204 lives and caused damage to property and infrastructure of hydro-power projects on February 7.
The NDMA has set up two high level expert committees with mandate of the investigating upstream areas to establish the causes of the disaster and study the downstream areas being to assess the impact of flash waters and come up with a clear cut strategy to avert repetition of similar incidences.
Thursday, 25 March 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
