Yogi Govt Forms 3 New SDRFs, Installs Rain Gauges To Step Up Disaster Relief Efforts In UP

CM Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has taken several actions at the village level to make people aware of various disaster situations.

Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath

Source : PTI

Uttar Pradesh government has formed three new State Disaster Relief Forces (SDRFs) as part of steps to provide relief to the residents during natural calamities such as floods, droughts, earthquakes, and lightning. Apart from this, the state government has also added 11 new types of incidents to the list of state disasters like boat accidents, snakebites, sewer cleaning, gas leakage, falling into borewells, human-wildlife conflict, attacks by bulls and nilgai and drowning in rivers. The decisions have been taken on the instruction of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath

Relief Commissioner GS Naveen said CM Yogi-led government has taken several significant steps in the past six and a half years to provide relief to UP residents of the state during natural disasters such as floods, droughts, earthquakes, and lightning. 

He added that the government also organised 7,000 rahat chaupals at village levels to make people aware and to protect them against various disasters. The commissioner further mentioned that the Chief Minister has directed the authorities to strengthen the disaster management system in the state to effectively deal with any kind of disaster, including floods, flash floods, vector-borne diseases, industrial accidents, earthquakes, nuclear threats, etc. As a part of this strategic initiative, three new SDRFs are being formed in the state. Additionally, for the new teams, equipment is being purchased for Rs 80.75 crore and vehicles for Rs 9.99 crore. 

These chaupals are conducted by district-level officials to educate rural residents about disaster prevention and preparedness, and awareness is being created regarding do’s and don'ts, he said.

State Govt Installs 2000 Automatic Rain Gauges At Block Level

Relief Commissioner Naveen said to strengthen the weather-related early warning system, the installation of 450 Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) at all tehsils, 2000 Automatic Rain Gauges (ARG) at the block level, and the establishment of 5 Doppler Radars in the state's 5 major cities are underway.

He said the Yogi government has also formulated the Boat Safety and Seafarer Welfare Policy-2020 (Nav Suraksha evam Navik Kalyan Niti-2020) prevent boat accidents in the state. In the first phase of the initiative, the distribution of boat safety kits has been conducted for 872 divers and 5123 sailors.

The government is not limited to ground-level actions only as it has introduced disaster management topics into school curriculums and the education boards of Uttar Pradesh. This includes disaster management subjects in administrative training institutes, police academies, state rural development institutes, secretariat training institutes, and state health and family welfare institutes, among other institutions. 

Steps To Make Relief Distribution Effective

Naveen added that to make the relief distribution system timely and transparent during emergencies, the state government inaugurated the 'End to End Computerisation of Beneficiary Management System', making the entire process paperless. Apart from this, the Mukyamantri Bal Taranveer Program is being conducted in Varanasi, Prayagraj, and Gorakhpur to prevent drowning incidents in the state, he said.