Australian High Commissioner to India Barry O'Farrell interacts with ASDMA officials

GUWAHATI: Australian High Commissioner to India, Barry O'Farrell visited the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) headquarters with a view to sharing knowledge on areas concerning international cooperation between the Australian Government and the Government of India, in the context of disaster management and allied sectors.

According to a press release, the High Commissioner was accompanied by Rowan Ainsworth, Consul-General, Australian Consulate-General, Kolkata; Paroksh Prasad, First Secretary, Australian High Commission, New Delhi and Angelina Nair, Senior Research and Visits Officer, Australian Consulate-General, Kolkata. The meeting at the ASDMA was coordinated by GD Tripathi, CEO ASDMA, who was joined by Amitabh Rajkhowa, Commissioner & Secretary Revenue & Disaster Management Department; Bhaskar Pegu, Secretary, Revenue & Disaster Management Department, Alakananda Medhi, SPC, ASDMA and other senior officials.

During the meeting, Tripathi presented the landscape of measures adopted by the ASDMA over the years to address the challenges that the State faces due to the interplay of multiple disasters. Climate-change-induced disasters like recurring floods, erosion, landslide and thunderstorms have been devastating the community every year. Moreover, challenges of environmental degradation, seismic vulnerabilities etc., are making the task of preventing the adverse outcomes more complex.

ASDMA, with an objective to promote the culture of safety and to reduce the disaster risk, has been strengthening its Disaster Management Plan through infrastructure development like Multi-Purpose Flood Shelters; capacity building; adoption of mitigation measures like Flood Resilient Villages, Women-friendly community managed flood shelters with Sanitary Vending Machine, etc.; enhancing knowledge through various collaborative studies and through various technology interventions like Flood Early Warning System (FLEWS), Integrated WebGIS Platform for Early Warnings/Alerts Dissemination, etc. The measures also include a quick response, recovery and rehabilitation mechanism like State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), V-SAT and satellite phone for strengthening communication, MIS for Search & Rescue Equipment and FRIMS for standardized reporting and aggregation of impacts. The challenge that exists in the dissemination of early warnings is that it is confined within the administrative machinery. To disseminate it to the last mile, ASDMA needs to implement a location-based alerting system for lightning, severe thunderstorm and flood early warning.

In conversation with the High Commissioner, Tripathi said, "Partnership between Government of Assam and Australian Government holds a lot of potential both strategically as well as economically under Australia India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.''

Speaking on the occasion, O'Farrell said, "Thank you for the fascinating discussion. It reminded me of the similarities in the disaster management systems between Australia and India, including the challenges of climate change. Look forward to working with you in disaster resilience in the northeast Indian Ocean."

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