Ms. Sujata Saunik (Additional Chief Secretary, Department of General Administration, Government of Maharashtra) and Mr. Alok Awasthi (the Commander of National Disaster Response Force, Government of India of the 2011 mission to Japan) visited Onagawa Town and Keio University SFC in the month of February 2023.
Professor Rajib Shaw, Assistant Professor Mika Kunieda and the students at Keio University SFC received them as a part of educational exchange to learn lessons from the first international mission of NDRF in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.
The first international mission of NDRF with 46 personnel led by Mr. Awasthi, co-ordinated by Ms. Saunik, could extricate 7 bodies from the rubble more than two weeks after the disaster. They also recovered and handed over cash worth 50 million yen to the authorities apart from the other valuables. NDRF Team’s efforts were highly appreciated by the local authorities, media and the public at large. IJL has two publications on Onagawa, which can be downloaded from the following links:
Social, Economic, and Environment, “SEE” Perspectives of Onagawa (2022)
https://indiajapanlab.org/wpIJ/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Onagawa-SEE.pdf
Onagawa: Voices of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in Onagawa and Message of Friendship to India (2021)
https://indiajapanlab.org/wpIJ/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Onagawa.pdf
Prof. Shaw, Ms. Saunik, IAS, Assistant Professor Kunieda, Mr. Awasthi
NDRF and IJL meet on Onagawa at Keio University SFC with the students
The NDRF Team in 2011 (Source: http://www.ndrf-onagawa311.info/ndrf/jp)