Govt begins preparations to combat disaster during monsoons

NEW DELHI: Government today began an exercise to prepare all stakeholders in dealing with any natural disaster or similar crisis erupting in the wake of the forthcoming monsoon and rains spell in the country.

A conference of state Relief Commissioners, Secretaries and officials of the state disaster management departments was today inaugurated by Secretary ( Border Management) in the Home Ministry Sneh Lata Kumar to review the status of preparedness of dealing with crisis situation resulting from the forthcoming south west monsoon.

She also said the strength of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the premier paramilitary force to respond to such challenges, has been increased from 10 battalions to 12, which comes to about 12,000 personnel in total.

Kumar added that more than 55,000 lives were saved in the wake of the Uttarakhand cloudburst and cyclone Phailin that struck Odisha coast last year "as a result of better preparedness and prompt rescue and relief efforts in disaster mitigation".

During the event, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Secretary S N Mohanty said, "Six states were yet to formulate state disaster management plans while the rest 22 have put such a mechanism in place."

Officials from the Indian Space Research Organisation, Central Water Commission, India Meteorological Department, NDRF, Geological Survey of India and Defence Ministry also took part in the day-long meet.