Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Kerala may be included in cyclone mitigation project

Staff Reporter

Rs.26-crore project for cyclone-related relief works submitted to Centre

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Vice-Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) N.C. Vij has said the Authority will give serious consideration to the request of the Kerala Government to include the State in the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project (NCRMP).

Gen. Vij disclosed this while inaugurating a workshop organised by the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) to coincide with the inauguration of the State Land and Disaster Management Institute here on Friday. He said the project was being implemented in 13 cyclone-prone States in the country.

The Kerala Government was planning a detailed project report for getting included in the project.

Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendran, who is the Vice-Chairman of the SDMA, said the Centre was known to have earmarked about Rs.3,000 crore for the project.

The State had submitted a Rs.26-crore preliminary project to the Centre for cyclone-related relief works.

The State would be submitting a larger project, costing Rs.300 crore, to be implemented as part of the NCRMP, within a couple of months.

Gen. Vij said the NDMA and the Union Home Ministry had written to the Kerala Government seeking its views on the proposal to set up a Civil Defence Force in the State to strengthen the disaster management system in the State.

The Centre would support the formation of the force in the early years and later the State Government would have to share the burden of the recurring expenditure, Gen. Vij said.

He urged the State Government to consider setting up of a battalion or at least a few companies of the State Reserve Police for disaster management efforts from the existing police personnel.

The NDMA would be happy to extend support to the initiative by way of training facilities for such personnel and also advise in equipping them with search and rescue capabilities on the lines of the National Disaster Response Force, Gen. Vij said.

Congress leader G. Karthikeyan, MLA, was among those who spoke on the occasion.

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