The Advisory Committee of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) met here today to discuss the road ahead for the 10-point agenda for Disaster Risk Reduction, outlined by the Prime minister, Shri Narendra Modi.

The Prime Minister had listed the agenda during his inaugural speech at the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) 2016, which was held in New Delhi in November last year. The all-inclusive agenda presents a holistic approach to disaster risk management and addresses a whole range of issues, from community preparedness to use of technology and international cooperation. The Prime Minister’s 10-point agenda on DRR is -

1.      All development sectors must imbibe the principles of disaster risk management.

2.      Work towards risk coverage for all-starting from poor households to SMEs to multi-national corporations to nation states.

3.      Encourage greater involvement and leadership of women in disaster risk management.

4.      Invest in risk mapping globally. For mapping risks related to hazards like earthquakes we have accepted standards and parameters.

5.      Leverage technology to enhance the efficiency of our disaster risk management efforts.

6.      Develop a network of universities to work on disaster issues.

7.      Utilise the opportunities provided by social media and mobile technologies.

8.      Build on local capacity and initiative.

9.      Opportunity to learn from a disaster must not be wasted. After every disaster there are papers on lessons that are rarely applied.

10.  Bring about greater cohesion in international response to disasters.

Shri R.K. Jain, Member, NDMA, welcomed the members of the Committee and briefly explained the role of the Committee in achieving the goals of DRR. NDMA also made a presentation underlining the institutional, structural and operational framework for Disaster Management in the country. It also highlighted the projects that are underway along with projects that have already been completed.

A detailed discussion on the need for multi-hazard preparedness, given the fact that a primary event brings with it an increased risk of secondary events, such as landslides following an earthquake, was done. The need for sharing of resources, leveraging technology, ensuring last mile connectivity, sharing best practices and success stories and involving the common man was also discussed.

Underlining that the implementation of guidelines and advisories was a major problem, the Committee members emphasised on the role of fixing accountability of stakeholders in case of a disaster and gaps in response, preparedness and information dissemination, both in terms of Early Warning Messages and community awareness. This will help in improving coordination thus enabling better response.

The importance of strengthening communities to act as effective first responders during disasters was underlined. It was further added that academia should be used to spread awareness and more and more institutes and universities should offer courses in disaster education.

The 15-member Advisory Committee consisting of experts from various areas of Disaster Management and allied disciplines has representatives from academia, governments, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and civil society members. The members of the Committee are: Ms. Sushma Iyengar of Kutch Abhiyan; Secretary General of the Indian Red Cross; Shri P.P. Shrivastava, Former Special Secretary to Govt. of India and Former Member North Eastern Council; Dr. S.K. Nanda, Former Additional Chief Secretary to the Govt. of Gujarat; Dr. R.K. Bhandari, Chairman, Forum on Engineering Intervention of Disaster Mitigation; Prof. C.V.R. Murthy, IIT Jodhpur; Prof. Arun Kumar Sarma, IIT Guwahati; Lt. Gen. (Retd.) A.K. Puri, PVSM, AVSM, Former DGBR; Dr. Y.S. Ramakrishna, Ex-Director, CRIDA (ICAR); Dr. L.S. Rathore, Former DG, IMD; Sh. Arjun Katoch, Former Chief Field Coordination Support Section, UNOCHA; Sh. Ranjan Dwivedi, former DGP, UP and Advisor (Cyber Security), Ministry of Power; Sh. T.P. Singh, Advisor, DietY, Govt. of India, Dr. Ajay Mathur, DG, TERI and Sh. Chewang Norphel, Chief Project Officer of the Leh Nutrition Project Housing Colony.

NDMA Members, Shri Kamal Kishore, Lt. Gen. N.C. Marwah (Retd.) and Dr. D.N. Sharma also attended the meeting and provided valuable inputs.

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KSD/NK/KM