Page 27 - Mann Ki Baat - English
P. 27

the preparations every morning       Disaster  comes    as   an
          and evening. We ensured that      opportunity for us. The earthquake,
          necessary arrangements were in    in 2001, wreaked havoc in
          place where power transformers    Kutch  causing unprecedented
          were likely to collapse. The      damage. After coming out of that
          Health Department also made       disaster, we started rebuilding
          arrangements    for  essential    our inner strength and potential.
          medicines   in  the  hospitals.   The Disaster Management Act
          Wherever there was a likelihood   was enacted by the Gujarat
          of flash floods, we shifted people   Legislative Assembly. We also
          living in low lying areas in all   created score of administrative
          those villages and dispatched     apparatus like Gujarat State
          NDRF   and   SDRF   teams   in    Disaster Management  Agency,
          advance. Moreover, we made        Gujarat Institute of Disaster
          all necessary arrangements for    Management, Indian Institute of
          water supply in advance so that   Seismological Research, etc. Not
          uninterrupted water supply can    only this, we also built more than
          continue in the event of power    70 shelters in the coastal areas.
          outage. The Road and Housing      In every district, to tackle the
          Departments effectively ensured   disaster, separate centers were
          timely trimming of trees so that   set up so that the entire local
          the roads were not blocked. The   machinery could come together
          Fisheries  Department   made      to devise an integrated approach
          arrangements to bring back        and communicate all relevant
          each  and  every  fisherman  and   information to the talukas and
          his boat from the sea. In fact,   villages immediately. This is
          the Science and Technology        how the control rooms of all the
          Department, together with all the   blocks of the affected districts
          mobile operators, decided that    got  connected  with  each  other
          they will use the tower of another   when the news of impending
          operator by providing roaming     Cyclone Biparjoy was relayed to
          facility in case any mobile tower   them.
          collapses. Satellite phones were
          arranged  for  staying in  touch     When the Prime Minister
          with all departments.             was the Chief Minister of the
              Keeping everything in mind,   State, he made unforgettable
          we  identified  more  than  1,100   contributions for Gujarat to get
          pregnant women whose delivery     it out of the horrors of Kutch
          was due during the cyclone. We    earthquake.  The  state-of-the-
          shifted them to Government        art  system that exists  here
          hospitals in advance. During this   today in the state was created
          period,  more  than  700  women   by him only. He was guiding us
          gave birth. When the Union        during this cyclone as well. He
          Home Minister Amit Shah went      even inquired about well-being
          to meet these women at Mandvi     of wildlife in Gir forest. He gave
          Government Hospital, a woman      us guidance towards every
          told him that she has named       person and system. Our crew
          her  baby  girl Khushi.  Because   at sea collectively performed
          of our advance planning, many     exceedingly  well  under  the
          mothers gave birth to healthy     leadership of the Prime Minister.
          babies in a safe environment. We
          had also made arrangements to
          take the livestock along with the
          people living in the affected area   To listen to the Chief
          to safer places. We took about    Secretary's interview, scan
          70,000 animals to safer places in   the QR code
          advance.

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