Sustainable Development of Himalayan Region Required, Cabinet Secretary

July 19, 2013

New Delhi: The Uttarakhand disaster has propelled a need for a policy towards more sustainable development of the Himalayan Region, stated Cabinet Secretary, Government of India, Mr Ajit K Seth, during his lecture on ‘Rescue Operations in Uttarakhand’ at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) on July 19, 2013.

Talking about the lessons learnt from the disaster, the Cabinet Secretary said that a National Crisis Management Committee, headed by him and including representatives from relevant institutes in the region, have decided to map the extent of devastation and also to categorise all the 127 glacial lakes in that area on the basis of risks they pose. The Committee will also prepare a damage extent report and make actionable recommendations, he promised. The government is also considering pre-positioning Air Traffic Fuel (ATF) at certain places.

Mr Seth also suggested the need to revamp the Disaster Management Legislation. He agreed that apart from having a more accurate system for weather prediction, tourism in the hills also needed to be regulated. He spoke of better infrastructure, like roads bridges, along with an alternate system of communications to handle such crises in the mountains. He said that the Government was also looking into the hydro electricity dam policy in the region.

The Cabinet Secretary laid stress on the importance of involving local people of the region while organising any relief work and being respectful towards their cultural sensitivities.

Speaking about the role of the National Disaster Management Committee (NDMA) in the recent disaster, Mr Seth defended the organisation, saying that though there was room for improvement, it was incorrect to say that NDMA had failed to perform its duties. About the role of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), it was stated that there is a plan to locate an NDRF battalion in Haridwar and their teams would be located in the Garhwal and Kumaun regions.

Explaining the coordination structure of the Government to combat devastation of such scale, the Cabinet Secretary said that the District Magistrate of that area is entrusted with the task of coordinating the district disaster plan and all concerned agencies are a part of that plan.

Terming the Uttarakhand tragedy as “sudden episodic event”, which is neither periodic nor progressive, the Cabinet Secretary expressed satisfaction over how the various government agencies came together for the rescue work. The army deployed 3000 of its troops and 12 helicopters that along with over many helicopters of the Air Force and private agencies evacuated over 38,000 people stranded in the valley, he said. A larger number of people were evacuated by land route.