At a time when even Government officials have pointed at the increased probability of accidents and traffic blockage on the Char Dham Yatra route, the chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has directed that all district magistrates should be provided Rs 5 crore each before the onset of the monsoon season for tackling disaster scenarios. The chief minister issued this instruction while presiding over a meeting of the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) at the secretariat here on Friday.
Stating that local people have an important role to play in disaster management, Rawat said that the locals should be trained for this purpose.The Mahila Mangal Dal and Yuva Mangal Dal members trained in disaster management should be trained again from time to time. Necessary equipment for disaster relief and rescue should be arranged at the local level. While directing that the incident response system (IRS) should be strengthened, the chief minister also stressed on the need for further strengthening the early warning system. He directed that special safety measures should be taken at places highly vulnerable to disaster. Additionally, the buildings vulnerable to earthquake should be identified and effective measures should be ascertained for their safety. Balloon technology should be developed for extending telecommunication facilities in the remote areas, he added. Rawat also sought information from the officials about preparations being made for conducting disaster relief and rescue work during the night time. On the occasion, the Chief Minister also launched the USDMA website (usdma.uk.gov.in) and its logo in addition to launching an IRS related mobile phone application. Rawat also released various publications, presented cash award of Rs 25,000 and certificate to Narendra Tomar who won the logo design competition and felicitated youth for important contribution in search and rescue works.
The director general of police Anil Kumar Raturi recalled that following the 2013 disaster, the State Disaster Response Force had been established in Uttarakhand.
At present, the SDRF personnel are posted in 50 police stations. Four companies of the SDRF have been formed and so far its personnel have rescued a total of 4,858 people in 341 small and big disaster scenarios. While 35,000 children have been given general training in disaster management, 8,500 children have been given one-month training, he added.
The disaster management secretary Amit Singh Negi informed in detail about the preparations for tackling disaster. To tackle disaster scenarios at the village level, 900 women groups have been trained.
All District Magistrates have been asked to conduct Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping while 350 sensitive sites have also been identified. State Finance minister Prakash Pant, principal secretary Anand Wardhan, secretary Bhupinder Kaur Aulakh, inspector general GS Martolia, meteorological centre director Bikram Singh and other officials were also present in the meeting.