Dr P K Mishra presents Country Statement at Global Platform for DRR at Geneva

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : A high level Indian delegation headed by Dr P K Mishra, Additional Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, is participating at the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) 2019 being held at Geneva, Switzerland, from May 13-17, 2019. Presenting the Country Statement on May 15, 2019, Dr Mishra briefed on the steps taken by India after the adoption of the Sendai Framework. He mentioned that India is not only focusing on reducing mortality from major disasters but also from small or medium, and locally-specific disasters such as heat wave, thunderstorm and lightning. Focussed attention and investments in cyclone risk mitigation has yielded dividends in saving precious  human lives. Deaths during cyclone Phailin in 2013 and Fani in 2019 have reduced considerably, he said.

Dr Mishra said the Government has issued national guidelines for managing the risk of losses from Thunderstorm, Lightning, Squall, Dust Storm, Hailstorm and Strong winds. Taken together these natural hazards are among the biggest killers in India. It will help improve the capacity of our States, assist with local level Action Planning, and ultimately help reduce preventable losses from such frequently occurring disasters, he added.

Similarly on national and local disaster risk reduction strategies, Dr Mishra said that  based on the National Disaster Management Plan of 2016, all the States and more than 95% of Districts in India have prepared their Disaster Management Plans.

Dr Mishra stated that India believes in working together with other nations in DRR as there are common challenges, benefits of sharing best practices and a need to respond together for search and rescue.  Towards this end, India hosted the first ‘BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise in the National Capital Region in October 2017. Likewise, in February 2019, India hosted a meeting on Disaster Risk Management of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), an inter-governmental organisation of 22 members and nine dialogue partners. These exercises provided a platform for sharing Best Practices on all aspects of DRR, and for strengthening regional response and coordination among BIMSTEC and IORA member countries.

Dr Mishra highlighted the urgent need to ensure that the new infrastructure to be created anywhere should be resilient to disaster. In this direction, India has initiated a dialogue with more than 40 countries to build a Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, he said. Such a Coalition would benefit both developed and developing countries and serve as a knowledge and capacity development platform for promoting disaster resilient infrastructure. Dr Mishra reaffirmed India’s commitment and support towards implementation of SFDRR and Asia Regional Plan, according to a PIB release.

​