Punjab government is working on a comprehensive disaster risk reduction plan.
The plan involved taking concrete preparatory measures to tackle natural disasters, said the state Revenue and Rehabilitation Bikram Singh Majithia on Thursday while speaking on the sidelines of three-day Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction being held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.
Majithia said that the Asian region annually registered highest incidences of natural disasters. “In 2015, 45 per cent of all global disasters occurred in Asia, affecting national, regional, social, environmental and economic development in the region and beyond. Children and youth are highly vulnerable to the effects of disasters, representing over 50 per cent of the victims,” he said.
He said that to build capacity and empower children and youth to engage in the systematic implementation of disaster risk reduction, school safety and resilience building a comprehensive campaign would be launched in the state at the school and Panchayat level.
“NGO’s, private organisations, social organisations, Red Cross societies and self-help groups would also be made part of this sensitisation awareness programmes,” he said.
Majithia said that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has already constituted a state disaster response force which has 15 teams each comprising of 40 jawans for tackling any disaster like situation.
“As Punjab is the food bowl of India and agriculture is the backbone of the economy of the country, proper measures should be worked to reduce the risk of crop loss due to natural calamities…Punjab Government has taken a lead in this direction by doubling the compensation of crop loss and included crop loss for compensation due to pests, frost, hail storm and floods, white fly for the first time,” he said.