LS polls: PM Modi to campaign in Assam, Tripura today
With the Lok Sabha elections inching closer, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to campaign for NDA candidates in Assam and Tripura on Wednesday.
Noting that extreme weather events like floods and cyclones will rise in the future due to climate change, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday called for “improved disaster preparedness” to reduce the loss of lives.
Speaking at the inauguration of the first BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise in New Delhi, Singh said: “In terms of number of extreme weather events – floods, droughts, heat waves and cyclones – the future is not going to be any better.”
“The frequency and intensity of such events is likely to rise in view of the climate change. However, if we make our communities, towns and villages, economic activities resilient, we can reduce the losses,” he added.
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Singh said that “improved disaster preparedness” was a corner stone of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) — an international organisation involving a group of countries in South Asia and South East Asia.
“In the recent monsoon season, floods and landslides have affected millions of people across almost all the BIMSTEC countries. This is yet another reminder of the importance of improving our disaster preparedness,” Singh said.
“Over the period 1996 to 2015, the BIMSTEC countries have lost 317,000 lives to disasters. In these disasters more than 16 million people in BIMSTEC countries have lost their homes & economic losses are also high and escalating,” he added.
Extending his support to all BIMSTEC nations, Singh said in achieving the common goal of reducing disaster losses, India was willing to stand “shoulder to shoulder” with other BIMSTEC members and explore all possible avenues of collaboration.
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