FICCI hosting conference on earthquake disaster mitigation today

Post Nepal Earthquake disaster, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) are arranging a conference on 'Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in India' (EDMI-2015) in New Delhi on July 10, 2015.

The objective of this conference is to create awareness among public at large, industries and academia for improving earthquake preparedness, risk reduction, mitigation and emergency response capabilities by working in close collaboration with Ministries, various departments of Government of India, State Governments, corporate sector, UN/International agencies and other stakeholder groups.

This conference has been planned to build the capacity of various stakeholders for mitigation of earthquake especially in highly seismic areas.

This conference is first of its kind in the country after the earthquake disaster in Nepal. Various stakeholders including builders, real estate, construction communities and the industries in iron and steel, cement and hardware sectors are involved in this conference. The idea is to enlighten them about earthquake related safety, earthquake proof construction tech and the Shake Lab - a device for shaking structural models or building components with a wide range of simulated ground motion. Also, what could be the possible effort an industry should make for their housing infrastructure, administrative building, their plants, assets and manpower to safeguard themselves against earthquake disasters.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister for Earth Sciences, Government of India is expected to inaugurate and address this daylong event.

The conference assumes greater significance after the recent earthquake in Nepal, which is a burning example of great devastation caused by an act of nature. There is an increasing need for Government and corporate sector to gear up themselves by gradually changing their mindset and introducing the requisite regulatory constructive framework, on-site/off-site emergency planning, structural/non-structural measures to minimize disaster risks while putting up the requisite infrastructure and planning in place at a faster pace.

Industry leaders from emergency related fields and reputed institutes of the country like National Institute of Disaster Management, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Jodhpur and Malviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT) of Jaipur are joining the conference.