HP starts work on disaster management strategies

The Himachal Pradesh government has begun an exercise to develop a mechanism to ensure effective disaster management and emergency response by involving NGOs and citizens groups.

Written by Express News Service
Shimla | July 14, 2011 03:40 AM IST

1 min read

The Himachal Pradesh government has begun an exercise to develop a mechanism to ensure effective disaster management and emergency response by involving NGOs and citizens groups. A proposal has been mooted to formulate an Inter Agency Group (IAG) with an aim to introduce the culture of working together during emergencies and disasters and promote an unified response strategy.

Special Secretary (Revenue) Nandita Gupta,who on Wednesday convened a meeting of government officials,NGO coordination and IAG for disaster management,said that there is an urgent need to build strong links between NGOs and grassroots communities. There was also a need to create public awareness on disaster risk and vulnerability,improve disaster preparedness,mitigation and response capacities,she added. Officials from the state and Centre,delegates from UN agencies,national and members of international NGOs were present at the meeting. A consensus has been reached to develop a database of NGOs,developing their capacity by providing them training in the field of disaster management and emergency response.