The country's apex body for disaster planning and mitigation, National Disaster Management Authority-NDMA, on Wednesday said that there is a huge shortage of trained people in the field even as a number of challenges remain to be accomplished. The Vice Chairman of NDMA, Mr. M Shashidhar Reddy said this while speaking at the 7th Foundation Day of the Body in New Delhi.

He said, there is also a shortage of trained people in seismic earthquake engineering. He also called for adopting a holistic approach towards this issue. Mr. Reddy said that the challenge lies in translating the guidelines laid down for disaster planning into final action. He said that disaster management plans and policies have to be synchronised with principles of science and technology laid down in this regard.