Una, September 5- Deputy Commissioner and Chairman of District Disaster Management Authority Una, Jatin Lal said that under the Samarth-2024 campaign, 'Safe Construction Model' competitions will be organized in the educational institutions of the district to increase awareness about disaster management. In these competitions organized with the cooperation of the Education Department, students of three categories - high school, senior secondary school and college will participate. In a meeting called on Thursday to discuss the plan of this campaign, the Deputy Commissioner said that the selection committee constituted under the chairmanship of SDM in every block will select the best model, in which the BDO will be the member secretary and a member from the Public Works Department will also be included.
The Deputy Commissioner said that the models selected at the block level will participate in the district level competition, where the committee headed by DC Una will select the best model at the district level. The best models in each category will be sent for the state level competition, and these models will be displayed and awarded at the state level event organized on the occasion of International Disaster Risk Reduction Day 2024.
Emphasis on community awareness and participation
The Deputy Commissioner emphasised on promoting safe construction practices to reduce disaster risk. He underlined the importance of community awareness and participation and stressed the need for organising disaster management programmes at the district level.
Besides, he directed the technical education department to collaborate with polytechnic colleges and cement companies to spread mass awareness about safe construction practices. Awareness campaigns will be conducted during gram sabha meetings on October 2 to promote safe construction practices in rural areas as well. A meeting of the village disaster management committee will be organised in every panchayat, in which participation of disaster friends and youth volunteers will be ensured.
Training workshops will be organised by the District Disaster Management Authority for junior engineers and technical assistants at the block and district levels. In these workshops, training on disaster-resilient construction standards will be given by master trainers.
The Deputy Commissioner reviewed the progress of the School Safety App with the officials of the Education Department and directed them to ensure that all schools upload their disaster management plans on the app on time.
District Panchayat Officer Neelam Katoch, DRDA Project Officer Shaifali Sharma, all Block Development Officers and District Disaster Management Authority Coordinator Suman Chahal along with officers from various departments were present in the meeting.