Delhi hosts half-marathon for awareness on disaster management

New Delhi, April 25 (ANI): A half-marathon was hosted here on Sunday to spread public awareness on disaster management.

Hundreds of volunteers of the civil defence force, including students and senior citizens, participated in the half-marathon.

Organized by the District Disaster Management Association (DDMA), the half-marathon was flagged off by Delhi's Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit here.

"One should be prepared to overcome any kind of disaster. So the children and senior citizens of Central district of Delhi are running in this marathon," said Ms. Dikshit.

"Through this half-marathon, we want to give a message to the society that civil defence is an institution, where whenever someone would call during an emergency, volunteers of civil defence would be ready to help them, be it any kind of disasters or natural calamities like earthquake. They will be always available for help as the volunteers are living among the people in the society," said Shravan Kumar, a participant in the half-marathon, and a volunteer with the civil defence service.

India has been traditionally vulnerable to natural disasters on account of its unique geo-climatic conditions. Floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes and landslides have been recurrent phenomena.

Disaster management occupies an important place in the country's policy framework as it is the poor and the under-privileged who are worst affected on account of calamities and disasters.

The half-marathon that started from Ms. Dikshit's residence at Janpath concluded near India Gate (ANI)