Kohima Summit special focus on disasters

Correspondent KOHIMA, SEPTEMBER 27 A SPECIAL session on Himalayan disasters was held on the third and concluding day of the Sustainable Mountain Development Summit-III at NBCC Convention Centre, Kohima. This special session was conducted in view of the vulnerability of Himalayan mountain states of India to disasters such as earthquakes, flash floods, landslides, forest fires etc.Indian Mountain Initiative (IMI) steering committee member & NTPC chair, Doon University, R.S. Tolia moderated the session. He cited the Kedarnath disaster earlier this year and Sikkim earthquake disaster in 2011 and questioned as to how prepared the member states of SMDS are towards such calamities. He asserted that though the people of the mountain region live amid beautiful landscapes, they should not be ignorant or blind to the harsh reality that they live in a region that is prone to disasters. Tolia also emphasized on the need for the mountain people to be aware and prepare for unseeing natural catastrophe. Audio visual presentations were given by three states- Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority, Sikkim and Uttarakhand on disasters that are prone to the respective states. The Kedarnath disaster in Uttarakhand in June 2013, where over 6000 lives had perished, was highly stressed during this session.