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Yogi stresses on vigilance, awareness to curb impact of natural disasters
Calling for inclusion of disaster management and road safety in school curricula, UP CM says loss of life and property would be minimised if people know about precautions
Lucknow: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath said here on Wednesday that, timely training, rescue measures, mass awareness drives conducted with the right intent, dedication and concerted efforts could reduce the impact of disasters in Uttar Pradesh.
Addressing the two-day 3rd ‘regional conference’ on disaster management organised under the aegis of National Disaster Management Authority, Yogi Adityanath said, “Strict vigilance and prior awareness are essential to control the impact of disasters.”
Emphasizing the inclusion of disaster management and road safety in school curricula, the chief minister said if people knew what precautions they should take during floods, earthquakes, lightning and fires, the loss of lives and property could be prevented.
Yogi called for implementation of an ‘early warning system’ to control deaths due to lightning strikes, particularly in Mirzapur and Sonbhadra districts. While appreciating the role of ‘Aapda Mitras’ in the prevention of disasters, the chief minister also stressed on involving gram panchayats in this work and increasing the number of Aapda Mitras.
Referring to the special geographical conditions of Uttar Pradesh, the chief minister also apprised the participants about the ongoing efforts for a permanent solution to curb floods, which had been causing huge loss of life and property in the state every year. A few years ago, 38 districts of UP were affected by floods each year but the number had been reduced to only four districts now, he said.
Sharing the efforts behind the success of the UP government in flood control, the chief minister said that when the government was formed in 2017, he received a file of ₹100 crore related to Elgin Bridge regarding flood protection. Such a huge amount was spent at one place every year. In such a situation, he himself inspected the site and decided to channelize the river by dredging it. As a result, Bahraich, Gonda and Barabanki were saved from floods and instead of Rs100 crore, only ₹5 crore was spent, he said.
Stressing on the need to stop road accidents, the CM said, “Nearly 30,000 people die due to road accidents. This needs to be checked by organizing awareness drives and implementation of road safety rules.”
Referring to the three types of calamities (adi daivik, adi bhautik and adi dahik) mentioned in ‘Bhartiya Manisha’, the CM said efforts were being made by the state government in relation to all three.
Yogi said nine states of north India were frequently affected by disasters. In this context, the two-days conference organized in a state with the largest population of the country like UP would prove to be very important.
A ‘flood atlas’ developed by the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Hyderabad, was released by the chief minister on the occasion.
