It is vital to ensure that grassroots organisations are trained and empowered for disaster mitigation, said Chief Secretary N Ravishankar. He was speaking at a symposium on tackling the challenge of slope stabilisation and landslide prevention organised by the State Disaster Management Authority in collaboration with the World Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Addressing the gathering, Ravishankar said that though tunneling has been undertaken in Uttarakhand for hydro electric projects, there is a need to know whether tunnels for road traffic is economically viable. “Slope stabilisation is a very relevant topic for Uttarakhand where the fragile nature of Himalayan ecosystem is also evident. The 2013 disaster has been a turning point in our understanding of mountain ecosystems,” he said.
Pointing out that about 90 per cent length of the 125 kilometre long planned Rishikesh-Karnprayag railway line, the chief secretary also stressed on the need for looking into various aspects of tunneling. Experts from India and abroad including Switzerland, Norway and Japan among other countries made presentations on different aspects of landslides and slope stabilisation. The view of experts was that landslides are predictable and the techniques for this exist though proper planning and effective implementation are needed. Aspects like bio-engineering and standard operating procedures also need to be incorporated for mitigating the damage from landslides and other disasters.
