Director’s Welcome Address to Sh Hardeep Singh Puri, Hon’ble Minister of State for Urban Development,

I would like to extend a warm welcome to the Hon’ble Minister for his gracious presence at the 2-day workshop of experts to assess to India’s preparedness to meet the challenge of the major earthquake in the future. The Workshop is being organized jointly by the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), Policy Perspective Foundation, and the FICCI. Leading experts are taking part in the workshop.

India is highly prone to national disasters including the earthquake. Nearly 59 percent of India’s land mass is vulnerable to the earthquakes. In the last thirty years, we have seen the major earthquake in Latur, Chamoli, J&K, Bhuj, and Sikkim. Thousands of people have lost their lives. The country has experienced huge economic losses due to the earthquakes. Clearly, there is a lot that needs to be done to improve our preferences for earthquake management.

The National Disaster Management Authority came out with the guidelines on the Earthquake Management in 2007. This Workshop will assess how well these guidelines are being implemented.

As is well known, it is the falling building which kill people during the earthquakes. Making earthquake-proof building and structures is critical for saving lives. Suitable building bye-laws and their compliance by the builders and other stake holders is essential. We also need sufficient number of cadres of professionals and experts trained in town and city planning to ensure that not only our building and infrastructure are safe but also the management of the fallout of an earthquake.

Unplanned and haphazard urbanization accentuates the problem of earthquake management. The government’s role in making an enforcing appropriate policies, laws, regulation, and guidelines to ensure earthquake management is crucial. Equally important is the partnership between the government and civil society.

The experience of many countries shows that losses to lives and property due to earthquake can be minimized. The number of lives lost in the Fukushima triple disaster in Japan in 2011 was hardly in two digits. India can and should achieve that level of preparedness in due course.

Friends, Sh Hardeep Puri is a veteran diplomat, an author and a dynamic minister who has already left his mark on the issues of urban development. We are honored to have him with us at the workshop today. He has been kind in the past to have visited the VIF to talk about the challenges of urbanization in India. Today, we look forward to hearing from him about his vision and views on what is being done by the government and his ministry to improve earthquake preparedness in the country and what is the way forward.

Thank you.