Lucknow, July 17 -- The Uttar Pradesh Relief Commissioner's Office and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed a Memorandum of Association (MoA) on Wednesday to strengthen disaster management in the state. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath and UNDP India head and resident representative Angela Lusigi were present during the signing ceremony. The chief minister expressed confidence that the partnership with UNDP will help build world-class disaster management capabilities in Uttar Pradesh and enable the government and administration to make scientific and informed decisions. "This initiative will provide new direction to the state's disaster risk reduction efforts, making it easier to develop integrated strategies to protect lives, property, and infrastructure," he said. Uttar Pradesh is poised to become one of the leading states in disaster management, he added. Earlier, Lusigi met the chief minister and appreciated the U.P. government's commitment to disaster management. She assured that UNDP will provide all possible technical support to the state. Key highlights of the agreement include the development of district disaster management plans for all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh and departmental disaster management plans for 15 key state departments, according to a state government spokesperson. Risk and vulnerability assessments will be conducted in 20 major cities. Urban disaster management plans will also be developed for these cities, he said. For the implementation of this programme, the government has approved a total budget of Rs 19.99 crore over the next three years....