GUWAHATI, March 13 - Assam has initiated its first disaster risk reduction roadmap that is expected to shape the direction towards which the State will move in the future to ensure that the development gains are sustained and the losses and impacts of various disasters reduced.
The first two-day State-level consultation that concluded in the city today to identify the current progress in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and envisioning department-wise strategic actions to enhance the resilience of the State in line with the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, deliberated on wide-ranging issues.
In the concluding ceremony of the programme held at Assam Administrative Staff College, chief guest Jogen Mohan, Minister, Revenue and Disaster Management, Assam, said that it was a holistic approach of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) along with the UNICEF and the Oxfam India to prepare a disaster risk reduction roadmap for reducing the loss of properties and lives in the State for many years. �There will be an active plan for the next 10 years in the roadmap to implement at the time of disaster, which would help the administration coordinate with its stakeholders,� he said.
Jishnu Barua, Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Assam, said that the roadmap would ensure good coordination among the departments and stakeholders to reduce the loss of lives and properties at the time of disaster. Baruah added that Assam was the fourth State after Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha to prepare such a roadmap in the country.
MS Manivannan, Commissioner Secretary & CEO, ASDMA, said that as Assam was vulnerable in the context of various disasters including flood, the roadmap would open a pathway towards reducing the vulnerability and boost coordination among the departments concerned.
Sarabjit Singh Sahota of the UNICEF called for support from the State government with a holistic approach.
The consultation programme was organised by ASDMA, UNICEF and Oxfam, India in collaboration with the IAG.
The first State thematic Consultation programme, viz., Resilient Social Sector Services and Infrastructure, was attended by the nodal officers of the district and State levels from five various key sectors � Health & Family Welfare, Social Welfare, PHED, Education and Panchayat and Rural Development, which have tried to look at more specific issues that concern specialised areas of governance and development.
A series of preparatory steps were taken before organising thes consultations to understand the prevailing conditions, damage and losses suffered by stakeholders, and different perspectives from various stakeholders were captured across the State.
Once the DRR roadmap is prepared, yearly planning process would include the State Disaster Management Plan and Departmental Disaster Management Plans, which would envision towards implementing the strategies to achieve the defined global targets. The programme was also attended by the senior officials from Education, Social Welfare, PHED, Health & Family Welfare and P&RD departments along with the representatives of the UNICEF, the Oxfam India and the IAG.
