Himachal Pradesh Enters Agreement to Mitigate Disaster Risks
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Chandigarh, Jan 10 (NationPress) The state government has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the French Development Agency (AFD) to roll out the Himachal Pradesh-Disaster Risk Reduction and Preparedness Project (HP-DRRRP).
This agreement was officially signed in the presence of Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena. The signing was conducted by Additional Secretary and Project Director, PMU Nishant Thakur representing the state government, alongside AFD Deputy Director (India) Camille Severac.
The Chief Secretary highlighted that the HP-DRRRP serves as a flagship program of the Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (HPSDMA), designed to diminish the state's susceptibility to natural disasters.
With external bilateral funding amounting to 100 million Euros from AFD, the project aims to enhance disaster risk management and climate change adaptation capabilities for both the government and local communities via a comprehensive and integrated strategy.
The mountainous regions of Himachal Pradesh, particularly in Kullu, Shimla, and Kinnaur districts, face heightened risks from natural disasters such as flash floods, cloudbursts, and landslides.
Experts point out that large-scale constructions of hydropower projects, roads, and unregulated mining operations contribute to significant debris accumulation, which exacerbates the severity of natural calamities. Frequently, this debris is carelessly discarded on sloped terrains, eventually contaminating rivers and streams, which leads to elevated riverbeds. This hampers the carrying capacity of waterways, causing them to alter their course during heavy rainfall and resulting in extensive damage downstream.
A catastrophic earthquake in 1905 devastated the Kangra region, impacting structures like St. John's Church, where numerous British officials were interred, and resulted in over 20,000 fatalities. A concerning performance audit conducted in 2017 on disaster management by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India revealed that 90 percent of buildings, primarily houses in rural sectors, fail to adhere to safe construction standards.
In Shimla, 83 percent of a sample consisting of 300 selected buildings were found to be highly susceptible to significant earthquake events. The construction of buildings and homes in rural areas, which accounts for 89 percent of all houses, is not governed by any legal framework. Consequently, the establishment of seismic-resistant structures in these regions has not been guaranteed, as noted by the CAG. Seven out of twelve districts have over 25 percent of their land classified in seismic zone V (indicating very high damage risk).
