By IRNA,
New Delhi : Delhi joined the launch of a global campaign to make national capital more resilient to disasters along with other cities like Thimpu, Karachi and Colombo.
‘The Global Campaign on Making Cities Resilient’ was launched here Tuesday with the call to make South Asian cities ready to face challenges of urban risk management with effective governance and urban planning.
The two-year campaign was launched by the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction in close coordination with the National Institute of Disaster Management and the Urban Development Ministry.
It would undertake a series of steps to reduce the disaster risks in cities.
In a ceremony to launch the campaign, Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy said that the region of South Asia was witnessing an unprecedented urban growth mainly due to migration of people from rural areas.
“This has put very severe stress on urban infrastructure, housing and environment. To overcome this, the Government has sanctioned over Rs 1,12,000 crore for development of urban infrastructure under JNNRUM besides launching various missions for better governance of civic amenities, which include sanitation mission and safe drinking water mission,” he said.
Reddy added, “Delhi is located in seismic zone 4 which means prone to quake, we need to have adequate preparedness to meet any eventuality. We have made it compulsory for all new buildings to be national building code-compliant.”
The national building code details model guidelines for new buildings which address issues related to resistance to disasters like quake and fire.
Reddy called upon local urban bodies to adopt best practices for bringing urban reforms at their level and to ensure participation of people in these efforts by creating mass awareness.
Under the campaign all the agencies would work towards disaster reduction, planning and raise awareness and commitment for sustainable development practices.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Home Affairs Mullapally Ramchandran said in view of large urban population, every city must quickly put in place a system for assessing disaster risks and take appropriate measures for mitigation and preparedness for reducing the after-effects on the life of the people.
Mayors of major cities of South Asian region including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives and Afghanistan, besides representatives of the governments, UN, NGOs and various international bodies are attending the two-day meeting.