UP govt to hold one-day meet on tackling drought through technology

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday will hold a one-day state-level conference in Lucknow on tackling drought with the help of technology, an official said.

In its ongoing efforts to address disasters and minimise the loss of life and property within the state, this is a collaborative effort between the Relief Department and IIT-Kanpur.

The conference aims to leverage state-of-the-art technology for drought monitoring, mitigation, and improved management.

Key stakeholders, including major technical institutes, research organisations, technical universities from both the state and the country, as well as experts from relevant departments, will participate in this event.

Principal Secretary Revenue P. Guru Prasad stated that, following Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s instructions, various programmes are being organised in the state to deal with disasters.

As part of this initiative, recently, experts from IIM-Lucknow provided disaster management training to the Additional District Magistrates in the state.

To address disasters and to stay prepared to deal with them, MoUs have been signed with specialised institutions in disaster management. These institutions will not only provide training but also assist the department during emergencies.

Relief Commissioner G.S. Naveen said that the conference will be divided into three sessions.

The first session will focus on the subject “Technology for Drought Monitoring” while suggestions will be presented by National Disaster Management Authority member Krishna S. Vatsa, U.P. State Disaster Management Authority Vice Lt Gen Yogendra Dimri, and M.L. Jat from ICRISAT, among other experts.

The second session will include discussion on “Technology for Drought Mitigation”.

The third session will discuss various aspects of “Technology for Drought Management” with the participation of Ashish Tiwari, Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Forest, Environment and Climate Change Department, and Dr. P. Sharma, Principal Scientist and Head at ICAR-IGFRI, Jhansi, among other dignitaries.

–IANS