Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today felicitated kin of 20 brave hearts who lost their lives during relief and rescue operations in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand.
At a special function organised on the occasion of 9th foundation day of NDMA, the Prime Minister felicitated family members of the 20 brave hearts belonging to Indo Tibetan Border Police, National Disaster Response Force and Indian Air Force, who died in a helicopter crash during rescue operations.
Rs 2 lakh has been given to family members of each of the victim.
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Minister of State for Home Affairs M Ramachandran and National Disaster Management Authority Vice-Chairman M Shashidhar Reddy were present on the occasion. The Prime Minister is the Chairman of NDMA.
Later, addressing a session, NDMA member V K Duggal said the floods in Uttarakhand were unprecedented and an eye-opener and the disaster indicated the vulnerability and risk profile of the Himalayan states.
Duggal said the ecosystem was very fragile and required appropriate skill building at various levels, apart from strengthening of early warning system ensuring last mile connectivity.
Uttarkhand Minister Yashpal Arya said the effort for rehabilitation, reconstruction and recovery was challenging and would require collaboration between different stakeholders to be able to address all concerns appropriately.
UN Resident Coordinator in India Lise Grant complimented the efforts of the Centre and said India was one of the five countries which was demonstrating progress with respect to addressing disaster management in a holistic manner in the past decade as per a recently conducted UN survey.
In a session on 'Extreme Weather Events', participants focused on how best science and technology can be leveraged to address the gaps that exist at present while dealing with disasters.
Chairing the session, NDMA Vice-Chairman Reddy stressed on the need for better observational and forecasting capabilities.
He said there was a need to move away from the approach of small incremental increases and focus on total requirements in terms of highest standards.
