The national level training programme of forestry in landslide risk management organised jointly by the National Institute of Disaster Management, New Delhi and the Forest Research Institute concluded on Friday. Addressing the gathering on the occasion FRI director Dr PP Bhojvaid expressed hope that the aspects learnt during the training programme would help the participants in their work in landslide prone areas.
The programme was aimed at making officials of forest departments of landslide prone regions and scientists from Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Geological Survey of India, Public Works Department and other bodies aware of the extent of damage caused by landslide disasters in India, the reasons for occurrence of landslides, the steps that can be taken to prevent or minimise the losses due to landslides by use of various methods of mitigation and by developing a strong network between other departments of the Government and Joint Forest Management communities so that massive disasters could be mitigated in the mountain regions. Faculty members and officials from institutes including NIDM, IIT Kanpur, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Indian Met Department of Uttarakhand and different State forest departments lectured the participants during the training programme organised by FRI Silviculture division head Dr RK Aima and research officer VK Dhawan with senior faculty from NIDM, Dr Suryaprakash as the training course coordinator.