General TM John (retd) studied civil engineering in Trivandrum and was working with the Kerala government for a while before he joined the Army in 1962 owing to the Chinese aggression that besieged India then. “That was the first turning point in my life,” says the retired Army general.From 1962 to 1997 John served in the Indian Army, after which he settled in Bangalore.
John was working at St John’s Academy of National Health Sciences as a civil engineering consultant when the dreadful 26/11 attack struck Mumbai. This, says John was the second turning point in his life. He yet again gave up a high-paying job, and this time joined Civil Defence Karnataka state, as chief warden.
John says, “The 26/11 attack was an eye-opener, it revealed the unpreparedness of civilians in the face of terror or any disaster in general,” he goes on, “it made me think what if something of this scale struck Bangalore?” Explaining the need for such a force he says, “we have a minuscule police force and the only way to cope with a crisis such as this is to train civilians to take charge.”
Indian Parliament enacted the Civil Defence Act, 1968 in July that year — according to which — every major city in the country was supposed to have a civil defence unit. In Bangalore, until the 26/11 mayhem the unit was lying dormant. After which, under Jija Madhavan Harisingh, DGP, home guards, civil defence and fire services John and his like have been relentlessly working on reviving it. The Act prescribes 50 divisions per city with each division comprising of 2 lakh civilians. “Currently we have 22 division that are ready to go into action at any given point of time and we hope to reach the 50-target by the end of this year,” says John.
Their aim is to train ordinary citizens to handle any crisis situation be it a natural calamity, terror attack or fire. The state’s civil defence unit was at the forefront of the rescue operations when floods hit North Karnataka, October last. Under chief warden John, the state’s unit has also undertaken tree planting initiatives. Many are keen on joining the civil defence unit here. But the fact that they aren’t operating on full capacity shows that the requirement is still not met.
For John, who is over 60 years of age, the gratification that service to society brings, is the biggest motivation. “My kids are well-settled and I felt the need to do something for the city, that I now call home.”
John is optimistic about the India’s future prospects. “The youth in our country have great potential and that gives me hope.” Citizen awareness is translating into citizens’ activism, demanding accountability from stakeholders. “There is no doubt that our country will be a force to reckon with in sometime,” he smiles.
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