NEW DELHI, Feb 22 - Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju today declared that policy decisions relating to disaster management made at political level needed to percolate to the ground level.
Rijiju was inaugurating a two-day international conference on disaster management, �When the Mountains Move and the Waters Rise� with a focus on health and housing organised by the Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research, Jamia Millia Islamia.
He said that it was necessary to be better prepared to face the risks of disaster and that mere dependence on government was not enough.
Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla said that State Governments were handicapped by weak regulatory mechanisms and inadequate resources to enforce building codes. He said that 70 per cent of RCC constructions in North-eastern cities did not conform to regulations and that a proposed common building code for the North East remains largely on paper. He spoke of the need to develop audiovisual aid and improve a network of health workers with access to media.
Vice Chancellor, JMI Prof Talat Ahmad suggested the need to develop �a corridor of study in the Himalaya� to enable field trips by students and faculty to understand the geography and geology of the region. Prof Sanjoy Hazarika, Director, Centre for NE Studies and Policy Research, underlined that the vulnerability of the region and urban structures saying �earthquakes don�t kill, buildings do.�