At least 10 youth would be trained in every gram panchayat in order to handle mitigation after a natural disaster, said Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.
Initially, with the aim of carrying out rescue work, and provide first-aid to the victims, 48,390 youth would be trained.
Thakur was addressing the inauguration ceremony of a two-day regional workshop on “Challenges of Disaster Risk Reduction in Hill Towns” for stakeholders of Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh.
The state disaster management authority and Himachal Pradesh Council for Science Technology and Environment are organizing the workshop in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority.
The Chief Minister said the state disaster management authority did a commendable job last year by rescuing over 4,000 people struck in Chamba, Kullu and Lahaul Spiti districts due to untimely snow under operation ”White Himalaya”.
He said the state has also approved school safety project under which a disaster management plan would be prepared and mock drills would be conducted by the educational institutions.
The government of India has sanctioned one National Disaster Response Battalion for the state and the state is working on setting up its own disaster response force.
