Newmai News Network Shillong | April 30 Standing united as one against a formidable opponent - natural calamities, experts from all over the North Eastern and other parts of the country are on a two-day brain storming session since today in Meghalaya to share ideas and find ways and means to mitigate the damage to life and limb in case a disaster strikes. Considering the vulnerability of the region to natural disasters like earthquakes, landslides and such, a two-day North East Regional Conference on Earthquake and Landslide Mitigation-Building disaster Resilience in North East India got underway in Shillong. Exhaustive discourse on ideas, ways and means to react, mitigate and behave in time of any natural disaster was held. The topic includes Attributes of Earthquake Early Warning System Focus on NE India, Hazard Risk Mitigation and Earthquake preparedness, Retrofitting and disaster resilient building structures in NE India, Remote Sensing and GIS application in landslide management beside others. A book on the inclusion of the people with disabilities was also released on the occasion. Addressing the inaugural session, Meghalaya Forest and Environment Minister, Lahkmen Rymbui said, “In case of a disaster in any part of the North East, all the north eastern states will be directly and indirectly affected by it, so it is therefore necessary to come together and work as a one single force to deal with such disasters.” Meanwhile, Secretary Revenue and Disaster Management, Hubert B Marak, said, “All the eight states of the North East has similar hazards like earthquake, landslide, floods and storm and by coming together in one platform, we will be enabled to share, learn and replicate the different methods adopted to cope with the hazards effectively.” “North East is vulnerable and a lot of mitigation measures needs to be taken to control hazards to reduce the loss of lives and property,” Marak added. Speaking about the people with disabilities and how often they are left behind in times of such crisis, Marak said that people with disabilities are at a very great disadvantage and so the government brought out a book in order to create awareness and help them on the basics of survival strategies that needs to be adopted. “Most of the time they are left behind and they should not be left behind as they are as important as any normal person,” Marak added. The conference is participated by experts from all over the North Eastern states and professors from the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), New Delhi.
