Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday outlined the importance of effective early warning systems in dealing with frequent natural calamities like floods and cyclones.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan visits the Kerala Pavilion at the World Reconstruction Conference in Geneva on Monday.
The chief minister was speaking at the open session of World Reconstruction Conference in Geneva. The variations in climatic patterns have increased due to global warming, he said.
"I would like to note here that during the first week of May the cyclone Fani badly affected Odisha. But damage to human life could be controlled due to sufficient early warning," he said.
The chief minister shared Kerala's experience in facing 2018 floods. He informed the meet about the Rebuild Kerala Initiative which was being carried out in a mission mode. Eco-friendly building strategies, giving more room for rivers, learning to live with floods etc. are the key ingredients of this initiative, he said.
Mr Vijayan extended wholehearted support to the theme of the conference; "Opportunities to build back more inclusively include identifying vulnerable groups and their needs prior to a disaster, social protection programmes that target the most vulnerable and ensuring that reconstruction does not overlook low-income and geographically-isolated areas." The floods of 2018 brought the best of Kerala out - we supported each other in a spirit of brotherhood, without social or economic differences. This spirit will continue to inspire us through all our recovery efforts.
He said the state while sharing its experiences with others was keen to learn better practices being followed in other parts of the world. ‘’We see this forum as an important milestone that will help us get better ideas in building our State better," he added.
The chief minister lauded the timely intervention of fisher-folk without which the state would have lost many more lives. He expressed deep gratitude to the fishers for their life saying efforts at the conference. Mr. Vijayan said Kerala had a long history of implementing social security measures and several progressive interventions like land reforms, state action in education and health. The state expects to carry out the present task through peoples' participation. "Our rehabilitation packages give utmost importance to the basic needs of food and shelter to the least empowered sections of the society. We have also taken care to ensure that these sections get these as a matter of entitlement and rights and not as a gratis from the state or the society," he added.
Setsuko Saya, Director, Cabinet Office, International Cooperation Division, Disaster Management Bureau, Japan and Edward Ndopu, UN Secretary General Advocate and Dr. Krishna Vatsa, Recovery Advisor, UNDP and Moderator were among the prominent international personalities present during the opening session.
