core sector communique

Workshop Held to Sensitize Delhi MLAs About Disaster Management

The first workshop to sensitize MLAs of Delhi about disaster management was organized here yesterday. Chief Minister, Smt.Shiela Dikshit inaugurated the workshop. Shri Yoganand Shastri, Speaker, Delhi Vidhan Sabha, Dr.A.K.Walia, Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management, Shri P.K.Tripathi, Chief Secretary, and Shri Vijay Dev, Secretary, Revenue also addressed the gathering. 

 In his Presidential Address, Vice Chairman, NDMA, Shri M.Shashidhar Reddy called upon the MLAs to play a crucial role in raising public awareness by taking the message of disaster management to the people. Shri Reddy drew the attention of Delhi MLAs to the fact that Delhi falls in the Seismic Zone IV and therefore awareness about earthquake is extremely important. 

 Shri Reddy said that NDMA has held several consultations with the Government of Delhi and finalised the earthquake preparedness campaign which will go on till the middle of February, 2012. He welcomed the idea of Chief Minister Smt. Sheila Dikshit to make Delhi well prepared in the next 4-5 years. Shri Reddy said that Delhi is a large city and among the most thickly populated ones and people should be made aware of the danger of constructing unsafe buildings. 

 We need to look at the buildings which collapsed even without the earthquake like what happened in the areas of Laxmi Nagar, Jama Masjid and Uttam Nagar, he said. NDMA has offered to train Municipal officials from all the 12 zones of Delhi in rapid visual assessment to identify such weak buildings. 

 Shri Reddy said that Delhi is also very vulnerable to flooding. For the first time in the country, NDMA has brought out the comprehensive document covering all aspects of Urban Flooding Disaster Management and release the guidelines last year, he said. He called upon the Municipal Authorities to take steps to establish this net work combined with the Doppler Weather Radar recently installed at the Palam Airport, a combination of these would be very useful in managing floods.