NDRF to have regional centre in Panchkula

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 25

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is setting up a new regional response centre in Panchkula, that will be permanently staffed by a team of about 50 personnel to oversee and coordinate deployment of its units in times of calamity.

This will be the NDRF’s sixth regional centre, the others located in Port Blair, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Given its mountainous terrain, geological fault lines, rivers and lakes, North India is prone to natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes and landslides.

The Disaster Management Division of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has given its nod for deployment of the team in Panchkula.

Haryana’s Director General of Police and the Panchkula Deputy Commissioner have been directed by the Chief Minister to mark land measuring above two acres or built-up area of 10,000 square feet to accommodate the centre.

Adequate space is also required for parking a light vehicle, a medium vehicle, a bus, an ambulance and a truck, in addition to storage of equipment required for undertaking relief operations. The team will be headed by a gazetted officer and include seven subordinate officers and 40 other personnel.

The new regional centre will be the second institute in Panchkula to be associated with disaster management. The ITBP’s National Institute for Training in Search, Rescue and Disaster Response is located here. Set up in 2003, it trains personnel from the NDRF, central armed police forces and state police forces from North India.

The 8th Battalion of the NDRF, located at Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, is responsible for undertaking relief operations in Haryana. It is also responsible for Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Another unit, the 7th Battalion, is located at Bathinda in Punjab. It is responsible for Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh.

The NDRF has 12 battalions comprising 18 self-contained specialist search and rescue teams of 45 personnel each, which include engineers, technicians, electricians, dog squads, doctors and paramedics as well as experts to deal with chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear emergencies. Three battalions each are from the BSF and CRPF and two each from the CISF, ITBP and SSB.