The State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), Department of Revenue, Rehabilitation, and Disaster Management, Government of Punjab on Friday organised a workshop to orient and sansitise the members of the Incident Response Team.
This workshop was organized in view of the meetings held by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann with the stakeholder departments to deal with any possible flood like situation during the upcoming monsoon season. Addressing the workshop organised here at Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration, Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Financial Commissioner Revenue KAP Sinha emphasized on the need for a comprehensive and coordinated response to the disasters in the state in the wake of major disasters like earthquakes, floods, and new climate hazards to which the State is getting prone.
“In view of the dynamic multi-hazard risk exposure, vulnerability and capacity gaps, the utmost priority is to save and protect lives, livestock, the environment, and the developmental assets and gains of the state. Thus, a comprehensive approach to capacity building of the various stakeholder departments is required”, he added.
Brig. (retd) Kulip Singh (ex-Consultant & Country Representative (India), Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre, Thailand, ex-Sr. Consultant, National Disaster Management Authority, Ministry of Home Affairs, India, ex-Principal Director, National Security Council Secretariat, Prime Minister's Office, India), an eminent expert on Incident Response Team was the resource person for this workshop.
He presented a comprehensive framework for Incident Response System in the State with roles and responsibilities of various sections of the administration. The meeting ended with a vote of thanks and concluding remarks from Secretary Public Works Nilkanth S Avhad.
He concluded with the need of localizing the disaster management concepts, increasing public awareness and strengthening the available resources in the state for disaster response. The workshop was convened by Special Secretary (Revenue) -cum-Director of Disaster Management Dr. Amarpal Singh on behalf of the SDMA.
Officers from departments of Public Works, Police, Home Guards, Department of Telecommunications, Animal Husbandry, Agriculture, Planning, Finance, Food Civil Supplies, General Administration, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Revenue & Disaster Management were present at the meeting.