Shillong, Sept 12: With the objective to educate and train the industry, chemical business and offsite responders like police, medicos, fire services, home guards and many other who are involved in this field a conference on ‘Safe Management of Chemical, Petroleum and Petrochemical Industries’ was held in the city today.
The conference was organized by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Government of India along with Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and State Government of Meghalaya.
Addressing the gathering as chief guest, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma stressed on the need to focus on the capability to respond promptly during disasters and to inculcate a culture of preparedness among all stakeholders.
“Giving importance in sensitizing the people in order to prevent loss of lives in calamities like floods, cyclonic storm which frequently hits the region and be competent and capable of disaster management preparedness is the key in achieving the goal,” Dr Mukul said.
Dr Sangma further assured that the state government will be working in tandem with the National Disaster Response Force, (NDRF) Battalion a task force which is equipped and trained to combat all natural and man-made disasters.
The chief minister also remarked that while issuing a sanction or clearance for construction of any buildings and designs, the authority should take utmost consideration to include required parameters for safeguarding the lives of people and special technical preparedness for any kind of disaster since the whole of North East is situated in seismic zone V.
The main theme of this Chemical (Industrial) Disaster Management (CIDM) Conference is to make industry globally safe by better emergency planning of accidents onsite, offsite including isolated storages. The conference will provide a platform to Indian and International companies to share their success stories, best practices and technologies to minimize accidents onsite during transportation of Hazardous Wastes, Petroleum Products and Gases.
Others who spoke on the occasion are Ameishing Luikham, Secretary North Eastern Council, S Krishnan, Chairman Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board, Government of India, K M Singh, NDMA, Dr, Arbind Prasad, Director General, FICCI and Lt. Gen. J R Bhardwaj, Chairman CIDM and Former Member, NDMA.(SP News)
