SHILLONG: Deputy Chief Minister and Minister in charge of Revenue and Disaster Management RC Laloo said government-industry-community interface plays a major role to offsite risk management and in responses during emergencies.
He was speaking at the state-level workshop on ‘public-private partnership in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation’ to pave the way for the establishment of public-private partnership (PPP) as a strategic approach to mitigate disasters in the state.
“Though Meghalaya is not a highly industrialised state, we are definitely ambitious on this account and have a fair share of private, medium and small scale industries spread all over the state apart from the public industries,” he told the gathering of government officials, corporate houses, stakeholders at Pinewood Hotel on Friday.
According to him, industrialisation in the state needs to be partnered with appropriate disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation activities so as to ensure that disasters do not impede industrial development and for industrial development to not lead to any disaster.
In this connection, Laloo observed that Meghalaya has the opportunity to steer industrial development in a manner that takes hazards, risks and vulnerabilities into account for the safety and continuity of not only the industrial plants but also the population, infrastructure and environment which the industry is placed in.
He added that SDMA, and various departments, including Factories and Boilers, Labour, Health and Environment, are directly responsible for disaster response and can play a major role in disaster prevention and mitigation and disaster response in the context of industrial disasters.
Referring to the significance of the workshop, Laloo said it would go a long way in encouraging and motivating the private sector for taking up disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation activities for sustainability and resilience building.
He added that the workshop was relevant at a time when the state is witnessing a rise in not only urbanisation and industrialisation but also in the number of disasters both man-made and natural.
Meanwhile, HB Marak, Secretary, Department of Revenue and Disaster Management, stated that corporate sectors play a major role in post disaster and relief, rehabilitation and recovery efforts.
