International Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure gets Cabinet nod, to be launched at UN summit

The Union Cabinet has given ex-post facto approval for the establishment of International Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) which will be launched at a UN summit in September, the government said on Wednesday.

The proposal was approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 13 to set up the CDRI along with its supporting secretariat office in the national capital.

Modi will launch the CDRI at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York on September 23 in order to get the high-level visibility required for the CDRI, the government said.

The CDRI will serve as a platform to generate and exchange knowledge on different aspects of disaster and climate resilience of infrastructure.

It will bring together technical expertise from a multitude of stakeholders to create a mechanism to assist countries to upgrade their capacities and practices with regard to infrastructure development.

"This initiative will benefit all sections of society. Economically weaker sections of society, women and children are the most vulnerable to the impacts of disasters and hence, will be benefitted from the improvement of knowledge and practice in creating disaster-resilient infrastructure. It will also benefit all areas with high disaster risk," an official release said.

The north-eastern and Himalayan regions are prone to earthquakes, coastal areas to cyclones and tsunamis and central peninsular region to droughts.