Focus on multiplying efforts for reducing disaster risk: Rajnath Singh

New Delhi, March 14 (IANS) India is focusing on multiplying its efforts towards reducing the risk of disasters, Home minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday during the third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Japan.

"Recent events in India such as the landslides and floods of 2013 in the Himalayan State of Uttarakhand, cyclone 'Phailin' in Odisha in 2013, the floods and landslides in Jammu and Kashmir and cyclone 'Hudhud' in Andhra Pradesh in 2014 have once again brought into focus the need for multiplying our efforts towards disaster risk reduction," Singh said in the conference in Sendai.

The unplanned development of cities and lack of proper infrastructure are the major challenges of the future, the home minister said.

"I would like to share that the government of India has mainstreamed disaster risk reduction in its development policies at all levels. By taking adequate measures for preparedness to handle disasters at all the levels, we were able to limit the loss of human lives to 44 in Odisha due to Cyclone Phailin. This is in contrast with the death of over 8900 persons in the Super Cyclone that struck the state in 1999," Singh said in his statement.

This substantive reduction could be brought around through regular investments in improving our forecasting systems, apart from capacity building measures involving the communities, Singh said.

"We commit ourselves to work with countries in the region and beyond in building resilient nations and communities, against disasters. We would also like to call upon all entities, public and private, to strengthen the international support mechanisms for disaster risk reduction by sharing of reliable and affordable modern technology for capacity-building and enabling institutional and policy environment at all levels," he said.