Himachal Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (HPSDMA) is organizing awareness and capacity building campaign ‘Samarth-2018’ from 1-13 October 2018. As a part of the campaign, various events and activities will be carried out at district and state level.
A coordination meeting was held here under the chairpersonship of Special Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Management D.C. Rana to review the preparations for this campaign in which nodal officers for Disaster Management from all the departments, district administration and MC Shimla were present.
Speaking on the occasion, D.C Rana said that started in 2011, SAMARTH campaign is carried out at the state, district and community level and a variety of events and activities are organized every year by HPSDMA, DM Cell, Department of Revenue. A range of Information, Education and Communication (I.E.C.) material is developed and disseminated among different target groups to enhance their knowledge and understanding of disaster risk reduction.
He said mock drills on fire safety would be conducted in educational institutions besides slogan writing competition, quiz on disasters, poster making and essay writing competitions for schools.
Shri Rana said that apart from awareness activities, new initiatives have also been taken for SAMART-2018. There will be competition for the documentation of stories of resilience highlighting various kinds of hazards. The best entries will be compiled in a publication and awarded too. HPSDMA will also identify and felicitate the individuals who have done exemplary work in the area of disaster preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation in Himachal Pradesh through the ‘Himachal DRR Leadership Awards 2018’.
He said HPSDMA will also organize a ‘contest for the development of innovative prototypes for disaster preparedness and response’. The shortlisted entries will be given financial assistance to develop prototypes. Best entries will be awarded on 13th October. Moreover, street plays will be organised for generating public awareness on disaster management at all the Sub-Divisions with the help of the Information and Public Relations department.
He said an exhibition on products, technologies, equipment related to disaster preparedness and response will be organized in Shimla on 12 and 13 October to showcase different equipment available in market for disaster response, fire-fighting, search and rescue, etc.
For the first-time, hands-on training sessions for the use of fire extinguishers, tying of different knots, medical first aid, improvised rescue, etc. will also be organized at Shimla for general public.