SRINAGAR, OCTOBER 04: Advisor to Governor, K Vijay Kumar today inaugurated 3 Day Workshop on SDRF & Disaster Management at Institution of Engineers, J&K State Centre, here today.
Senior Consultant in NDMA, Maj Gen (Retd) V K Datta, Chairman, Institution of Engineers Mohammad Ashraf, Director Disaster Management J&K Aamir Ali, Key Resource Persons including Dr Rajinder Desai and Dr Rupal Desai from Ahmedabad, senior officers of SDMA, SDRF, JK Police, Army, Air Force, Para Military Forces including CRPF, BSF and other concerned officers were present on the occasion.
The Workshop is being organized by J&K State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) in collaboration with National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), The Institution of Engineers (India), Jhelum & Tawi Flood Recovery Project and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF).
Speaking on the inaugural session, the Advisor thanked Maj Gen. (Retd) V K Datta for coming to the state and organizing this workshop for the benefit of all stakeholders. He said that his expertise in the field of disaster management surely be benefitting the participants.
K Vijay Kumar hoped that the various activities and training to be imparted during the workshop by Maj Gen. Datta and other resource persons would be proved handy for everyone concerned with disaster management.
“Purpose of this workshop is to equip you all, with the knowledge about disasters so that one can learn in effectively manage the after effects of disasters”, the Advisor said.
He said that this move will also help in developing effective mechanism for reducing the scope for ad-hoc measures in response, as it incorporates all the tasks that may be performed during disaster management, irrespective of their level of complexity and envisages a composite team with various sections to attend to all the possible response requirements.
Highlighting the importance of training programmes, the Advisor said that no matter how many workshops/programmes we have attended in our lives, but every such opportunity makes us learning new things adding to our existing knowledge, the Advisor said.
He hoped that one or two thing you learn during this workshop would be shared with others when you move back to your respective places and contribute in further spreading the awareness among others regarding disaster management.
With regard to state’s preparedness to deal with any kind of disaster, the Advisor said that the government has put in an effective disaster management plan involving all the stakeholders. He said that it is always a learning process and efforts are underway to further strengthen the State Disaster Response Force and to make them able to respond quickly whenever emergency arises.
He thanked NDMA, Institution of Engineers (India), Jhelum & Tawi Flood Recovery Project and SDRF for organizing this important workshop in the state. He appreciated the efforts of Director, Disaster Management J&K Aamir Ali for coordinating with various departments and making this event happen.
Speaking on the occasion, Maj Gen (Retd) V K Datta highlighted the various activities to be carried out during the workshop including coordination meeting, technical session, table top exercise and mock exercise.
He said the workshop involved all stakeholders including officers from state government, SDRF, SDMA, JK Police, Army, Air Force, Para Military forces, Civil Defence and others. Detailed discussions would be held on all the related issues for the effective disaster management in the state, he added.
Maj Gen. Datta said that for the purpose of training the participants, various resource persons have been invited who would be delivering the talks on the topic. During the workshop, all the participants would be explained in detail about Incident Response System, Formation of Incident Response System, Emergency Operation Centre and would also facilitate a table top and mock exercise.
He also gave a brief description on National Perspectives on Disaster Management.
Director, Disaster Management J&K Aamir Ali who is the coordinator of the workshop informed the gathering that more than 250 officers/officials from different departments and professions are participating in the workshop.
He said that the objective of the workshop is to share the best practices in Disaster Preparedness through various case studies along with detailed discussions on them. The concept of training local people to be the ‘first responders’ was also discussed and it was stressed upon all the participants that focused attention needs to be given to aware the locals to react during the emergency as first responder.
Community is amongst the first responder in any disaster situation and therefore, the state has taken innovative steps for imparting trainings to volunteers from the community in all the districts, Aamir Ali informed.
He informed the gathering that a local resident of Srinagar, Er Abdul Hamid Wani donated an inflatable raft costing more than Rs 1.5 lakh to the SDRF so it can be utilized for disaster management purpose. He further informed that Abdul Hamid Wani urged other people to donate such kind of equipments that can be used by SDRF to save people during fighting with disasters.
On the occasion, the Advisor felicitated Maj Gen. Datta and other resource persons for visiting the state and sharing their expertise and knowledge with the participants to make the state able to mitigate with any kind of disaster management.
ADGP Muneer Khan and Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Dr Syed Abid Shah also delivered lectures on the topic.
