A three-day training programme on ‘Resilient Infrastructure for Hilly Regions’ began today at North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) here.
The event is being jointly organised by NEHU and the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) and will run until August 24.
The programme will cover key considerations and strategies for creating resilient infrastructure in hilly regions, such as terrain analysis, site selection, adaptive design, stability and safety, erosion control and drainage, roads and transportation, infrastructure resilience, climate resilience, community engagement, green infrastructure, multi-hazard approach and innovative technologies.
The inaugural session started with a welcome address by Prof Devesh Walia, Head of NEHU’s Department of Geology, and highlighted that building resilient infrastructure in hilly regions requires a comprehensive approach that considers the unique challenges posed by rugged terrain, potential natural hazards, and environmental sensitivity.
Amir Ali Khan, Associate Professor of NIDM, highlighted the importance of resilient infrastructure, as it plays a critical role in enhancing the well-being, safety and sustainability of communities, economies and the environment. He also stressed the need to implement nature-based solutions (NBS) in resilient infrastructure projects.
Prof Shailesh Nayak, Director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, gave a special address highlighting the issue of natural hazards and the climate change in hilly regions and importance of robust early warning systems. He emphasised that the building of effective resilience to natural hazards needs to be addressed at all the three levels – the global or the earth system, the social system comprising infrastructure and industrial capability and the human system.
Senior civil servant BDR Tiwari, in his special address, spoke on relearning of traditional, time-tested knowledge and the local concepts of construction with use of modern technology. He mentioned that resilience can be adopted via climate adaptive solutions, greener approaches and capacity building of local communities.
The guests of honour were Prakhar Kumar, Regional Director, AMD-NER, and GK Kesari, ADG and HoD, GSI-NER. Both highlighted the use of geoscience in an inclusive manner so that youth can come forward with sustainable approaches for making the future safer and secure. They stressed that from the local to the global level, governments and civil society need to increase resilience towards multi-hazard scenarios of hilly regions.
More than 80 delegates are participating in the training programme from Sikkim, Nagaland, Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya.
