Experts call for deeper collaboration among stakeholders to strengthen disaster response

Experts advocate for enhanced collaboration in disaster response in India at a national conference on strengthening governance.

A cross section of experts has called for closer collaboration between academia, government agencies, and civil society to strengthen disaster response mechanisms in India.

Participating in a national conference on ‘Strengthening Governance in Disaster Risk Reduction: The Road Ahead for Viksit Bharat,’ hosted by the Department of Sociology, Pondicherry University, underscored the need to evolve effective disaster risk reduction strategies and build a more resilient and disaster-prepared India.

The two-day event was organised in association with the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), a press note said.

In the presidential address, P. Prakash Babu, Vice-Chancellor of Pondicherry University, emphasised the necessity of technological interventions in reducing natural disasters. Although the State has the primary role to reduce disaster risk, that responsibility should be shared by other stakeholders, including the local government, the private sector and other entities.

Rajendra Kumar Pandey, Principal of Desbandhu College, University of Delhi, stressed the importance of mainstreaming different phases of disaster risk reduction into governance mechanisms at multiple levels —ranging from local municipal bodies to national disaster response agencies within the country.

Durgesh Nandini, a distinguished scholar in the field of Public Administration and a faculty member at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), in her keynote address, made a detailed presentation on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management in India.

Pradeep Kumar Parida, Head, Department of Sociology, said the goals of Viksit Bharat @2047 embrace numerous facets of development, including economic growth, social progress, environmental sustainability and good governance.