NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday stressed on the need to encourage the use of advanced technology for disaster risk reduction. The PM made the appeal while inaugurating the third two-day session of National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) 2023 aimed at making India disaster resilient by 2030.
“We have to develop models of housing or town planning at the local level. We need to encourage the use of advanced technology in these sectors”, said the Prime Minister. He also asked to focus on recognition and reform for disaster management.
After the earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria, the Prime Minister said, the world has recognised and appreciated the role of India’s disaster management efforts. “We will have to strengthen the disaster management governance in urban local bodies. Urban local bodies will react only when disaster strikes — this will not work anymore. We will have to institutionalise planning and we will have to review local planning. For the construction of buildings and new infrastructure projects, we will have to draft new guidelines keeping in mind disaster management. There is a need for overhauling the entire system”, added PM Modi.
The theme of the two-day NPDRR session is ‘Building Local Resilience in a Changing Climate’, which is aligned with the 10-point agenda promulgated by the Prime Minister to build local capacities, especially in the context of a rapidly changing disaster risk scenario in the wake of climate change.
During the event, the Prime Minister felicitated awardees of the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar. The winners of the 2023 Puraskar are Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) and the Lunglei Fire Station, Mizoram.
The Prime Minister also inaugurated the exhibition for showcasing innovative ideas and initiatives, tools and technologies in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction. The NPDRR is a multi-stakeholder platform constituted by the Government of India to facilitate dialogue, sharing experiences, views, ideas, action-oriented research & explore opportunities in the area of Disaster Risk Reduction.
The NPDRR was attended by over 1,000 distinguished guests including Union Ministers, Ministers of Disaster Management from states, Parliamentarians, heads of local self governments, heads of specialised disaster management agencies, academicians, representatives from private sector organisations, media and civil society organisations.
Chaired by Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah, the NPDRR is a multi-stakeholders National Platform which is characterised by a process where all stakeholders get together to share knowledge, experiences, views and ideas, and discuss the latest developments and trends in disaster risk reduction (DRR), identify gaps, make recommendations, and forge partnerships to further accelerate disaster risk reduction efforts.
The third session of NPDRR will also help mainstream disaster management practices across ministries and departments, states and Union Territories, urban and rural local-self-governments, academic institutions, NGOs, CSOs, PSUs, and communities.
Jointly organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), the NPDRR will comprise four plenary sessions, one ministerial session, and eight thematic sessions.
An exclusive ministerial session, chaired by the Union Home Minister will be held after the inaugural ceremony, where ministers from Centre, states and Union Territories deliberated on further strengthening of disaster risk reduction systems at various levels.
Over two days, the subject experts, practitioners, academicians and delegates will deliberate upon various cross-cutting issues on disaster risk reduction based on the SENDAI Framework and the 10-point agenda on Disaster Risk Reduction given by Prime Minister Modi.
The event was preceded by 19 pre-events held on a range of specific topics related to disaster risk management (like, heat waves, coastal hazards, enhancing the leadership of women in disaster risk management) in more than a dozen cities across the country over the last two months.
The findings and recommendations of the 19 pre-events will feed into the third session of the NPDRR to be held here in the National Capital on March 10-11. The 1st and 2nd Sessions of NPDRR were held in 2013 and 2017. This event is being held during the ‘Amrit Kaal’, and the deliberation of the third session of NPDRR will help the government in making India disaster resilient by 2030 under the Vision-2047 of Prime Minister Modi. (ANI)