Stalin unveils new State Disaster Management Policy
Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday unveiled the new State Disaster Management Policy and highlighted the need to slow down the extreme weather events by following climate change adaptation measures.
“There is a need to manage the onset of extreme weather events, frequency and intensity of natural disasters such as cyclones, floods and droughts. Climate Change Adaptation in the form of water saving crop husbandry, increasing the green cover that results in carbon sequestration will be scaled up,” the policy said.
The government will devise a State Climate Action Plan and will also focus on mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation into development plans.
The State will also concentrate on capacity building of departments and local bodies, and exclusive capacity building programmes will be designed and imparted to line departments to ensure that the concept of mainstreaming disaster risk reduction becomes a practice.
The policy listed out ongoing projects and programmes that are being implemented by departments, which have scope to take up disaster risk reduction. Some of the projects listed by the policy document are establishing bio-shields, shelter belts to diffuse the intensity of cyclone winds and its impacts, land use regulations, floodplain regulations, regulation for coastal ecosystem, prevention of sea water incursion, periodical maintenance of river mouths and others.