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Prime Minister Narendra Modi's principal secretary PK Mishra on Thursday said that India gives high importance to disaster risk reduction issues and in just over a decade, "we have been able to reduce the loss of lives from cyclones to less than 2 per cent."
"In India, we accord high importance to disaster risk reduction issues; it is a central public policy issue. We have significantly increased funding earmarked for disaster risk reduction," he said while addressing the High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Midterm Review of the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (HLM) in New York on Thursday (local time). "In just over a decade, we have been able to reduce the loss of lives from cyclones to less than 2%. We are now developing ambitious mitigation programmes to reduce the risk of losses from all hazards - Landslides, Glacial Lake Outburst Floods, Earthquakes, Forest Fire, Heat Waves, and Lightning," he said. "We have brought about landmark changes in our financing architecture to support the entire spectrum of disaster risk management needs - disaster risk mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery and reconstruction," the PM's Principal Secretary said. He also highlighted that under India's chairmanship, G20 members have agreed to establish a Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). The five priorities identified by the G20 Working Group - early warning for all, resilient infrastructure, improved financing of DRR, systems and capacities for response and 'build back better', and eco-system-based approaches to DRR - will provide added impetus to the achievement of Sendai targets globally, Mishra underlined. "In addition, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, presently co-led by India and the United States is bringing about transformation in the way we plan, design, build, and maintain infrastructure systems in the 21st century. Infrastructure projects are long-term investments. If informed by solid risk assessments, and underpinned by good risk governance, these infrastructure investments can build long-term resilience," he added. Meanwhile, PK Mishra on Thursday also said that states bear the primary responsibility for stopping the creation of new disaster risks and reducing existing disaster risks. Mishra was addressing the India-Japan side event on 'The Roles of States for Promoting Investments in Disaster Risk Reduction Towards Resilient and Sustainable Future'. Mishra said: "The fact that both G7 and G20 have accorded priority to disaster risk reduction indicates that the issue is now getting attention at the highest level in the global policy discourse." He said: "States must evolve a financial architecture that can address the entire spectrum of disaster risk reduction needs in a balanced way. For far too long we have focused almost entirely on financing disaster response, recovery and reconstruction." He said, the G20 Working Group will meet for the second time next week and they will devote one full day to discuss issues of financing. (ANI)
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