Tamil Nadu - Vellore   

Disaster mitigation integrated with development in 11th Plan

Special Correspondent

Call for insurance mechanism to shift burden of dependence on state for relief

VELLORE: Disaster mitigation initiatives have been integrated with the development process in the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12), according to Minister of State for Home Affairs S. Regupathy.

The natural disasters that reoccurred in the last 25 years and many global initiatives led to a complete shift in the country's policy on disaster management, from post-disaster relief and rehabilitation to a holistic management of the entire disaster cycle — prevention, mitigation, preparedness response, relief, reconstruction and recovery. The approach emanated from the conviction that development could not be sustained unless disaster mitigation and preparedness were built into the development process, Mr. Regupathy said, inaugurating the International Roundtable on Lessons from Natural Disasters, Policy Issues and Mitigation Strategies, organised by the Centre for Disaster Mitigation and Management (CDMM) set up a year ago in the VIT University and the Centre for Science and Technology of Non-Aligned and other Development Countries (NAM S & T Centre), New Delhi, on the VITU campus here on Monday.

The Minister said the Disaster Management Act of India provided for setting up disaster management authorities at the national, State and district levels and for the establishment of the disaster mitigation fund and the disaster response fund.

M. Shashidhar Reddy, Member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), New Delhi, called for creating an insurance mechanism, as part of natural disaster relief, to shift the burden of dependence on the state for relief and rehabilitation.

VITU Chancellor G. Viswanathan said that during the one year of its existence, the CDMM had forged partnerships with five knowledge-based institutions, including the National Institute of Disaster Management, to harness synergy of strengths and leverage capacities.

Mr. Regupathy released the auto-certification test CD-ROM on earthquakes prepared by the CDMM and a book on the birth of the CDMM. Mr. Shashidhar Reddy released an auto-certification test CD-ROM on cyclones.

A.P. Kulshreshtha, Director, NAM S&T Centre, said the next generation would suffer from acute climatic variations and global warming. Political commitment, along with the partnership of scientific bodies, was necessary to tackle these challenges, he said.

R.K. Bhandari, chairman, CDMM, said during the roundtable, more than 36 experts would deliberate on diverse aspects of disaster management, with the thrust on learning from the previous disasters and prevention of future disasters.

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