Uttarakhand’s New Disaster Plan: District Teams to Get Training in Rescue, GIS and Early Warning

Uttarakhand is strengthening disaster preparedness through district-level training, faster response systems, GIS technology, the SACHET app and plans to involve ex-servicemen in emergency management.

The State of Uttarakhand is making efforts to develop its disaster management system with special emphasis on training at the district level and faster responses through better technological use. The government of Uttarakhand is organizing capacity-building programs for its officials and teams to make sure that they are capable of responding to disasters quickly.

Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Minister Madan Kaushik has said that despite considerable progress being made in the area of disaster management by Uttarakhand in recent years, new challenges demand constant improvement in the disaster management system.

Quicker Response at the District Level

Addressing a day-long workshop on disaster risk reduction at the district level, Mr Kaushik has highlighted that disaster management goes beyond just availability of the required resources. What is actually challenging is the effective utilization of these resources in times of crisis.

For this reason, it is important for officials and personnel to be well aware of their roles and procedures that need to be followed in case of a disaster.

More Communities to Be Involved

Kaushik emphasized the need to involve the community in preparation activities related to disasters. For him, having a well-equipped government system would not be enough. The community needs to be educated to act in case there is an emergency situation. Modern Technologies Are Used More Often by the Government for Disaster Management Activities The state uses technologies more often in its disaster management approach.

Retired Military Personnel Are Going to Participate in Disaster Management Work

It was announced that some people who worked for the armed forces and paramilitary services will be invited to take part in disaster management work in Uttarakhand. Lt Col Raghubir Singh Bhandari (Retd) said that their experience would make the state's responses more efficient.

Training Campaign Will Start in the Districts of Uttarakhand

As Additional Secretary of the Disaster Management, Prakash Chandra, said, the training campaign started at the initiative of the Chief Minister of the state. It started on July 18 in Tehri Garhwal and will continue in other districts, such as Nainital, Chamoli, Dehradun, and Pithoragarh. In this campaign, they will speak about the measures to be taken to reduce the risk of the disasters and other things.

GIS, SACHET app and IRS training

During the technical session, the officials were acquainted with various tools to help increase efficiency in disaster management. The experts spoke about disaster risk reduction models, the Incident Response System (IRS), GIS, and SACHET app.

Disaster management portals and mobile applications were also covered during the training session, where more attention was paid to practice than theory.

The government wants to implement such programs across Uttarakhand so that the district officials can act swiftly and commence rescue and relief operations without any delay.