Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stresses on improvement of disaster management capabilities

NEW DELHI: Citing the recent natural disasters in Uttarakhand, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pressed for urgent steps to strengthen early warning systems and improve disaster management capabilities to save lives.

Addressing the 5th meeting of the National Disaster Management Authority chaired by him, he said extreme weather events are on the rise world over and they impact the poor and marginalised people in a disproportionate manner.

"Even as we meet here, the people of Andhra Pradesh are suffering from very heavy rains in the past few days and the resultant floods. It is therefore all the more necessary that we quickly improve our disaster management capabilities," Singh said.

He stressed that every rupee spent on disaster preparedness is a saving of expenditure on post-disaster relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction measures.

"Disaster risk reduction strategies, therefore, need to be mainstreamed into our developmental programmes and policies. This is an area on which the NDMA and the key ministries of the central government should lay greater stress," the Prime Minister said.

Referring to the Uttarakhand cloudburst and the subsequent floods and cyclone Phailin, he said the early warning systems and response mechanisms should be strengthened further so that the country is able to minimise the negative impact of disasters.

"In this context, NDMA's efforts to strengthen community preparedness for disaster events and its engagement in activities related to disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness need to be continued with greater intensity," he said.