PM Narendra Modi urges IIT Guwahati to set up centre to help Northeast tackle natural disasters

With the disaster-prone Northeastern states struggling to solve the natural disasters like flood and erosion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked IIT Guwahati to set up a centre for disaster management and risk reduction to help the region reduce their impacts.

"The Northeast is rich in biodiversity and traditional knowledge, which was passed from one generation to another generation. Can we relate this knowledge with modern science and technology and usher more development? The Northeast has specific challenges in the form of natural disasters. I want to request the IIT Guwahati to set up a centre for disaster management and risk reduction in order to help the region tackle the disasters and reduce their impact," Modi said while addressing the 22nd Convocation of the institute, through video conferencing.

A total 0f 1,803 students were handed over their degrees during the convocation.

Modi also said that the IIT Guwahati could help the Northeast region to tap its potential as the region was fast emerging as the country's gateway to the South East Asian nations.

"The mainstay of relations with these countries have been culture, commerce, connectivity and capacity. The IIT Guwahati can be a major centre to help Northeast reap maximum benefits of the initiatives taken by the Centre and thereby help local youths get jobs. There is a lot of potential areas such as solar energy, biomass, hydropower, rice, tea and bamboo," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said new opportunities are being created in the North-East as the government was laying a lot of emphasis for development of the infrastructure in the region especially railways, highways, airways and waterways.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who also virtually addressed the convocation before PM Modi urged the IIT Guwahati to study the state's river system and suggest measures to address the natural disasters like flood and erosion, which create havoc almost every year.

Director of IIT Guwahati, TG Sitharam said that the research dimension of the institute was broadening significantly with multiple industrially funded collaborative research projects. "There are 291 research projects in progress with a total sanctioned value of about Rs. 434 crores," he said.