Chief minister Nitish Kumar and vice-chairman of Bihar State Disaster Management Authority Anil Kumar Sinha at the meeting in Patna on Friday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Bihar State Disaster Management Authority (BSDMA) on Friday adopted 70,000 institutions under Mukhyamantri School Suraksha Yojana.

The decision was taken during the seventh meet of the BSDMA that concluded in Patna under the leadership of chief minister Nitish Kumar, who is also the chairman of the authority.

Sharing details about the scheme at Samvad, BSDMA vice-chairman Anil Kumar Sinha said: “It is for the first time that so many schools have been adopted under the scheme. The focus would be on students this year. Apart from providing information in textbooks regarding safety during disasters caused by earthquake, flood or squall, the authority will also train the children through mock drills on how to cope with such situations.”

He added that the training would concentrate on the dos and don’ts during disasters. “Principals, teachers and parents would be given first aid kits, along with disaster management gears,” he added.

Sinha said an earthquake prediction network is being formed, which would have 14 centres in Bihar. Out of the 14 centres, Bihar would own 10 and the Centre would own the rest.

“The network would help us assess continuously the probability of earthquakes in the state,” Sinha said.

The officer added that flood protection week, earthquake protection week and fire protection week, would be organised in June 2013 and January next year.

Police officers, too, would be trained on how to respond during disasters. “All police stations in Bihar would be modernised so that they have the necessary equipment during disasters,” he said.

More than 1,300 officers of Bihar Administrative Service are being imparted training on disaster management.

“Very soon they would complete their training,” Sinha said.

Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Centre has helped Bihar in making a revised flood hazard atlas.

“In the seventh meeting of the BSDMA, it was decided that the Bihar State Disaster Training Institute would function from the campus of Bihar Institute of Public Administration and Rural Development (Bipard) in Gaya. It is at present under construction,” said Sinha.