Karnataka has no battalion of the central team that manages response to calamities.
As the death toll soars in the tsunami that struck the northern Pacific coast of Japan on Friday, it is time to pause and take stock of the preparedness for disaster in our state. A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) exists, at the Centre. Karnataka, however, does not have any battalion of this force.
Of the eight NDRF battalions in different locations in the country, only one is in South India, at Arakonam, Tamil Nadu. Another is being raised at Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. The Karnataka Disaster Management Authority’s disaster response team is yet to be constituted. Member of the Karnataka Disaster Management Authority, KK Pradeep, said that the process of creating a state disaster team is ‘evolving’. All 30 districts of the state will be covered.
The NDRF battalion comprises men and officers drawn from the Border Security Force, the Central Paramilitary Force, the Central Industrial Security Force and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. Engineers, technicians, electricians, and para-medics are all part of the team.
Pradeep said that training of personnel is still in the works, and specific training for events like tsunamis will be provided. “There have been training programmes for structural engineers, conducted under the aegis of the ministry of home affairs. The whole training procedure is still in the process of being firmed up,” Pradeep said, adding that training would also cover action to be taken in case of disasters caused by chemicals or through nuclear radiation.
Talking of threats on a smaller scale, even cities hosting major events have a command post, so that the National Disaster Response Force can act promptly in case something untoward occurs. The authority, for instance, has set up five response teams for the ongoing Cricket World Cup matches at Chinnaswamy Stadium.
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