The Himachal Pradesh Government has prepared a disaster risk reduction and preparedness programme involving a French Government agency the Agency Francaise de Developpement (AFD).
This programme would start from April 2024 and the state government would be spending Rs 890 crore on the project for five years to equip the state in disaster preparedness and climate resilience.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said, “The primary goal of this initiative is to adopt a comprehensive approach to tackle natural disasters through climate risk reduction by fortifying infrastructure to withstand disasters and improve governance.”
He said, “It is high time to address climate change’s escalating threat and need to take proactive measures; through a comprehensive five-year plan several measures on enhancing disaster risk governance would be taken by augmenting institutional capabilities, early warning system, disaster preparedness and improve emergency response system.”
A significant chunk of the program’s resources will be directed towards mitigation measures, including eco-Disaster Risk Reduction (eco-DRR) and nature-based solutions.
A state institute for disaster management is proposed to be established, besides setting up State and district level Emergency Operations Centers, village level climate change vulnerability assessment centers and Special Disaster Response Force (SDRF) at Kangra.
Initiatives like development of early warning systems for landslides, flash floods, cloudbursts, Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs), and dam safety by using GIS based decision support system would also be taken under the project.