Cyclone Fani: UN Praises India’s Disaster Management Effort, Well Coordinated Evacuation Plan

Appreciating India’s disaster management response over Cyclone Fani, the United Nations’ agency for disaster reduction has commended Meteorological Department’s early warnings that helped authorities conduct a well coordinated evacuation plan and minimise the loss of life, reports Indian Express.

The strongest cyclone, classified under ‘extremely sever cyclonic storm’ to hit the subcontinent in the past two decades, Fani has battered large areas of Odisha coast, affecting the lives of over 11 lakh people.

UN agencies are now working on taking measures to protect families living in refugee camps in Bangladesh, which is bracing up for the cyclone to enter its territory.

Mami Mizutori, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) for Disaster Risk Reduction, and head of the Geneva-based UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), said, “India’s zero casualty approach to managing extreme weather events is a major contribution to the implementation of the #SendaiFramework and the reduction of loss of life from such events,”

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, recognises that the state has the primary role to reduce disaster risk but that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders including the local government, and the private sector.