Emphasising the importance of integrating risk reduction strategies into development initiatives, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said that much remains to be done to make India a disaster-resilient country.
He highlighted areas like forecasting, early warning capabilities and communication systems that need improvement to ensure that disaster alerts reach the last person in a village without any delay.
Singh, speaking at the ninth formation day of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), also underlined the need to learn “right lessons” from June’s Uttarakhand tragedy in which thousands were killed.
“The large-scale loss of life, property and public infrastructure due to rains and floods in Uttarakhand point not only to India’s vulnerability to disasters, but also the need to take effective measures to prevent such disasters and contain their fall-out when they occur,” he said.
The prime minister was of the view that the task of reconstruction, rehabilitation and restoration of livelihoods is far from being over, though immediate rescue and relief has been largely completed.
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