Governor reviews U'khand's preparedness for disasters

Uttarakhand Governor K K Paul today reviewed the state's preparedness to deal with disasters and underlined the need to adopt satellite imagery and communication technologies to deal with future calamities more effectively.
Paul held a meeting with Disaster Management Secretary Bhaskaranand at the Raj Bhawan here and discussed with him measures which can be taken to further strengthen the disaster response mechanism in the hill state known for its vulnerability to landslides, cloudbursts and flash floods, the worst of which hit it in June 2013.
The Governor stressed the need to adopt advanced technologies like satellite imagery and satellite communication as part of the disaster management system.

He suggested that help can also be taken from the central governments' Space Application Centre, to get satellite/ sensors for assessing accurately the effects of avalanches, snow-melting and rock fall in the natural water bodies and their role in causing disasters, an official release said.
Paul also said that satellite data should be collected on a weekly basis from April 1 when snow begins to melt in the higher reaches.
He said areas which are highly sensitive to earthquakes in the state should be identified and arrangements should be made for retrofitting in houses in these areas.