Salary of disaster management officers in U'khand to be hiked

District disaster management officers in Uttarakhand, which was hit by a major natural disaster in June this year, will now be paid better and have better resources at their disposal.
This was announced by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna while presiding over a meeting of the State Disaster Management Authority here yesterday.
Appreciating the performance of district disaster management officers for relief and rescue operations in the state during the June calamity, Bahuguna ordered a hike in their salary.
"The salary of the district management officers should be increased considering the good work done by them during relief and rescue operations in the state," an official release quoting the chief minister said here.

Disaster management officers working on outsourcing basis need to be paid better and provided with more staff and resources, he said.
Bahuguna also ordered expeditious recruitment of staff in the newly constituted State Disaster Response Force on the lines of NDRF and said a team of technical experts should be constituted to remove the debris deposited in the rivers.

He also asked officials concerned to take guidance from the Union Government on how to go ahead with the exercise.
He asked the Chairman of the Disaster Management Advisory Committee to examine the state Disaster Management Plan which has recently been prepared.

Disaster Management Secretary Bhaskaranand told the meeting that an amount of Rs 1525 crore and Rs 1220 crore have been sanctioned by the World Bank and ADB respectively for rehabilitation and reconstruction work in affected areas of the state.