PRESS- NOTE
PREPARATORY MEETING FOR SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANIZATION JOINT EXERCISE ON URBAN EARTHQUAKE SEARCH & RESCUE 2019 CONCLUDES
Date 02/11/2018 Time 1600 Hrs
The two-day long preparatory meeting of the “Shanghai Cooperation Organization Joint Exercise on Urban Earthquake Search & Rescue- 2019 concluded in Delhi, today. All the delegates presented their concluding remarks and appreciated the efforts of Govt. of India.
The delegation head of Pakistan highlighted Country’s Disaster Response Mechanism. He underlined DM structure, its functioning, hazards, preparedness, response mechanism, contingency planning mechanism, steps taken to strengthen the response mechanism, challenges & priorities.
The representative of Russian delegation thanked to Govt. of India for organizing the meeting which helped them to learn a lot in the field of disaster management. He also suggested to invite instructors to interact with each other so that the best practices can be shared.
The representative of Kazakhstan added that the Law ‘On Civil Protection’, Action Plans for Emergency Situations was approved by Government and continuously working to upgrade the response system. He further said that being a developing country we need to learn from the other countries that will help to enhance the capabilities.
The representatives from China, underlined the vulnerability profile, Philosophy of Chinese government on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), steps taken to improve capacity to guard and deal with natural disasters and Disaster response mechanism in China.
The representatives from India highlighted ”Disaster Response Mechanism and Capacity in Response & Relief that includes DM structure, Initiatives for disaster resilient nation, institutional and policy framework. He also added that the Govt. of India has earmarked 2.5 billion rupees as National Disaster Response Reserve (NDRR) to provide relief items as reserve to cater for 4,00,000 disaster victims.
The representative of Kyrgyzstan highlighted legal framework, classification of disasters its consequences and response.
The representatives of Uzbekistan & Tajikistan also highlighted the DM structure of their respective countries.
Delivering the closing address, Director General, NDRF expressed his gratitude to all delegates of SCO member nations for attending the first phase of SCO Joint Exercise on Urban Earthquake Search & Rescue-2019 and said that meeting would be prove a milestone for smooth conduct of main exercise scheduled for 21-24 February, 2019. DG, NDRF further added that the simulation exercise shall provide an opportunity to practice and strengthen the national and international response, coordination protocols and methodologies, in a major earthquake scenario requiring international assistance. In addition, test the inter-Governmental coordination efforts, create synergy and synchronize efforts to institutionalize regional cooperation on disaster response among the member countries, he added.
Joint exercises of this nature will address the important aspects of responding to disasters/calamities by pooling our resources and expertise and the imperatives of presenting of a strong and well-coordinated response to disaster situations in member states, he added.
A Summing up session on exercise format was also held at Hotel Le Meridien New Delhi. The delegates were impressed by the efforts of NDRF in hosting this mega event.
Issued By PR Cell, NDRF HQ, New Delhi.
