120 NDRF personnel undergo training for posting in disaster-prone hill regions

Around 120 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel are undergoing mountain rescue training at over 21,000 feet on Bhagirath Kharak glacier for posting in disaster-prone areas in the north and north east, officials aware of the matter said.

These rescue teams will be stationed at specific disaster-prone areas in Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Uttarakhand and parts of north east India throughout the year, for swift rescue operations during various disasters, such as avalanches.

Currently, the NDRF teams are based in their respective battalion headquarters in different parts of the country, from where they are sent on various rescue missions. In the event of a natural disaster, such teams take time to reach the affected area in the mountains and often the rescuers are not acclimatised.

“The aim is to have expert mountain rescuers on the ground who can reach the spot as soon as possible. Instead of being posted at the battalion headquarters, usually located in big towns or cities, small groups of trained rescuers will be camping in the mountains. Unless the teams have experience of working in the mountains, they won’t have the competence of conducting operations there,” an NDRF official aware of the matter said.

NDRF director general Atul Karwal said: “Our boys are gaining the experience of working in the mountains in this expedition. Small teams of rescuers will be posted in different places. Having them posted in the mountains as rescuers is also better because no time will be lost in getting them acclimatised in the high mountains.”

The first NDRF team of 120 personnel is being trained to work in high altitude regions and conduct rescue operations during calamities such as flash floods, landslides and avalanches in these areas. NDRF is also training with the Tiranga Mountain Rescue, a non-profit organisation affiliated with the Indian Army since 2016 and which provides avalanche rescue and training to the army.

The 120 personnel from the NDRF’s 12 Battalion, who have been handpicked, are on an advanced expedition of Bhagirath Kharak glacier in Uttarakhand. They reached Dodi Tal in Uttarkashi at the time of filing this report. The 12 Battalion’s headquarters is in Arunachal Pradesh.

The NDRF was set up by the ministry of home affairs in 2006 and has around 17,500 personnel, who join the force on deputation from paramilitary forces such as Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force and Indo-Tibetan Border Police.

As part of Operation Dost in the aftermath of a series of earthquakes in Turkey and Syria in February, India had sent around 150 NDRF personnel for rescue operations.

At the inaugural of the third session of the National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) in New Delhi on March 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that disaster management agencies should be proactive in their approach to minimise damages, instead of reacting after a disaster strikes.

On Wednesday, while addressing the 5th edition of the International Conference on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (ICDRI), Modi said that studying past disasters and learning lessons from them is the way forward.