Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said that timely training of personnel, rescue measures, awareness programmes implemented and conducted with right intent, dedication and concerted efforts can bring down the impact of damage caused by disasters to the least.
Addressing the two-day 3rd Regional Conference on Disaster Management organised under the aegis of National Disaster Management Authority, Yogi said, “Strict vigilance and prior awareness are essential to control the impact of disasters. Timely training of personnel, rescue measures implemented and conducted with right intent only can bring down the impact of damage caused by disasters.”
Emphasising the inclusion of Disaster Management and Road Safety in the school curriculum, the Chief Minister said that if people know what precautions they should take during floods, earthquakes, lightning and fire mishappenings, the loss of lives and property can be prevented.
On the occasion, Yogi also called for implementing an Early Warning System to control deaths due to lightning strikes, particularly in Mirzapur and Sonbhadra districts. While appreciating the role of Aapda Mitras in the prevention of disasters, he also stressed involving Gram Panchayats in this work and increasing the number of Aapda Mitras.
A flood atlas developed by National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) Hyderabad was also unveiled by the CM on the occasion.
In the inaugural session of the two-day conference, referring to the three types of calamities (Adi Daivik, Adi Bhautik and Adi Dahik) mentioned in Bhartiya Manisha, the CM also discussed the efforts being made by the state government in relation to all three.
Referring to the special geographical conditions of UP, Yogi also apprised everyone about the ongoing efforts for a permanent solution to curb floods, which have been causing huge loss of life and property in the state every year.
He said that till a few years ago, 38 districts of UP were affected by floods every year. “Today, it has been reduced to only 4 districts,” he said.
Sharing the efforts behind this success, the CM said that when the government was formed in 2017, he received a file of Rs 100 crore related to Elgin Bridge regarding flood protection. “Such a huge amount was spent at one place every year. In such a situation, I myself inspected the site and decided to channelise the river by dredging it. As a result, Bahraich, Gonda and Barabanki were saved from floods, instead of spending Rs100 crore, only Rs 5 crore was spent,” he said.
Expressing the need to stop road accidents, the CM said, “Nearly 30,000 people die due to road accidents. This needs to stop. Awareness must be raised.”
Extending best wishes for the two-day regional conference, the CM said that there are 9 such states of North India which are frequently affected by disasters. “To minimise these, this two-day event organised in a state with the largest population of the country like UP will prove to be very important,” he said.
Representatives of the states of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh, representatives of various agencies related to disaster management and subject experts are participating in the conference organised at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan, Lucknow.
