Ahmedabad: The State Disaster Resource Network (SDRN) prepared by the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA) after the killer earthquake in Kutch in 2001 came in for high praise at a seminar held at Sardar Patel Institute of Public Administration (SPIPA) here today.

Inaugurating the two-day seminar, Gujarat’s Chief Secretary Mr. A. K. Joti called for strengthening the Disaster Management System to meet any eventuality. He made a graphic presentation on the State Government’s exemplary post-quake operations for reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts at different level.
 
The seminar has been jointly organized by GSDMA, SPIPA and Government of India Labour & Employment Department. It is being attended by senior officers from Indian Armed Forces, Civil Services, Police and Forest Departments from West Zone from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.

Prominent among those who spoke on the occasion included Mr. T. Nandakumar of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Dr Janki Andharia of Tata Institute for Social Sciences of Mumbai, Prof. Santosh Kumar of NDMA and senior officers of GSDMA.

Prominent among the experts on disaster management to speak on the second day of the seminar include Dr. P.K. Mishra, Mr. Sushil Kumar, Mr. Sarpotdar and Dr Sudhir Gandhi.

Earlier, Mr. Arvind Agrawal, Director-General of SPIPA, welcomed the speakers and delegates.