Disaster Awareness Training Should Start From School-level, Stresses Governor

BENGALURU: Stressing on the need to involve community participation in disaster preparedness and response, Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on Saturday felt the need for incorporation of disaster awareness training from the school level and also to integrate disaster management into overall development policies particularly in the wake of natural disasters have nearly doubled in the last two-decades owing to climatic change.

He called for the constitution of Disaster Management Committees in villages and stated “The local community is the backbone of disaster management and empowering the local community with adequate training and awareness building at local community levels will significantly reduce the impact of disasters.”

While delivering a speech on “Technology for Climate and Disaster Resilience”, a conference organized at Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research in Bengaluru, he laid emphasis on the need for plantation and sustainable practices, the Governor said such measures are needed to protect the environment and reduce disaster.

At the conference, Gehlot said the frequency at which natural disasters are happening have had a major impact on lives, property, mental health and economies worldwide and in such a scenario transformative technology in managing disasters such as artificial intelligence, satellite imaging and GIS mapping are helping in early warning, response and in policy making.

Continuing on the role of technology, Gehlot said drones and robotics are proving essential in hard-to-reach areas during rescue operations and mobile alerts and social media are playing an important role in spreading timely information even in rural areas.