Gandhinagar, 28 November 2013

The Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management (GIDM) at its day-long brainstorming session on ‘The Roadmap and Perspective of GIDM’ here recently decided to make it a Centre of Excellence at the national and global level.

According to GIDM Director-General P.K. Mishra, experts and delegates from different parts of the country and abroad prepared future plan for the institute. Ever since its inception, the institute has helped senior officers of different states prepare disaster management plans in their respective states. It has been training officers for the job. It also ran several short-term training courses for the nation. After the completion of its new building at Raisan nearby two years ago, the institute now plans to start long-term several degree and diploma courses, create necessary infrastructure, laboratories for simulations to take up case studies and carry out research to meet the increasing demand of the industry.

It proposed world-class courses in earthquake risk management, chemical and industrial disaster, urban risk management, climate change, community-based disaster preparedness. The institute has entered into agreement with Thailand-based Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre, Japan’s Ritsumeikan University and other centres to ensure continued exchange of ideas and expertise.

The day’s session was attended by experts from National Institute of Disaster Management, SAARC Centre of Disaster Management, Ritsumeikan University, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience of Bangalore, Tata Institute of Social Science of Mumbai, Gujarat National Law University and Indian Institute of Technology-Gandhinagar, besides IAS officers of departments concerned from different states.