DRDO Workshop on Disaster Risk Reduction and Preparedness - A Curtain Raiser DRDO is organising a one day workshop on 28 November 2015 with the objective to showcase technologies and products developed indigenously by the organisation which can be readily adopted or customized for disaster management. The use of these technologies will help in reduction of socio- economic and environmental impact of disasters. DRDO has in the past contributed to the various disaster management operations like Tsunami disaster in 2004, Uttarakhand flash floods in 2013 and J&K floods in 2014. Besides these, post event trauma management during tsunami disaster was also conducted by DRDO. As DRDO is developing many state-of-the art technologies, some of these can be adopted for future disaster management solutions. It may be noted that due to variations in geography and climates, India is susceptible to various calamities/disasters like earthquakes, floods, droughts, tsunamis, cyclones, landslides and avalanches which may be man-made or of natural origin. Apart from these, vulnerability to emergencies arising out of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) material also exists. Disaster management broadly comprises the pre-disaster phase which includes prevention, mitigation and preparedness, while the post-disaster phase includes response, rehabilitation, reconstruction and recovery. The workshop will be inaugurated by Addl Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Dr. PK Mishra in the presence of Secretary Department of Defence R&D and Director General, DRDO Dr. S Christopher. The stakeholders participating in the workshop are NDMA, NDRF, MHA, Armed Forces, CRPF, CISF, NSG, NIDH and others. To showcase the products and technologies, an exhibition is also organised where eleven DRDO laboratories are showcasing their products and making technical presentations. This will be followed by panel discussions amongst dignitaries of various stakeholders, with the objective to define trajectory of developmental activities of DRDO for future technological solutions to assist risk mitigation and preparedness against disasters. Apart from various stakeholders, several industry development partners are also participating in the workshop. The workshop will witness lectures on different topics viz. combating disaster from R&D E (E) and VRDE, Management of Biological and Chemical Disaster by DRDE, Communication Technologies for Disaster by DEAL, Medical Management of Disaster by INMAS, Drinking Water Solutions by DLJ, Landslide Disaster by DTRL, Detection Technologies by NPOL, Avalanche Disaster by SASE, Food and Fire Fighting by DFRL and CFEES respectively. The items to be displayed in the exhibition are CBRN mini UGV, Multipurpose Decontamination System (MPDS), Mobile Decon System (MDS) NBC Individual Protective Equipments (suit, mask, haversack, boot, gloves, casualty bag), First Aid Kits Type A & B, Tri-Colour Detector, Residual Vapour Detection Kit, Water Poison Detection Kit, Chemical agent detectors (IMS based CAM and ACADA, Flame Photometer based, GC-MS based), NBC Canister, ROV-DAKSH, UAV NETRA, Food and Fire Fighting equipment, Water Purification System, Snow equipment like bridge, net, shoes etc. DRDO's indigenous technologies can be easily adapted towards disaster management solution by various stakeholders. The Industry partners are locally manufacturing these products and technologies are readily available. Also by this workshop stakeholders will come to know of current developments and new developments can be taken up for providing better solutions in future. NAo/RAJ