Kohima: The Nagaland government has raised its own State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) to face any disaster, natural or man-made following the prediction that the North Eastern states were at highest risk as disaster could occur anytime.
Nagaland Chief Secretary Lalthara formally inaugurated the training of the first batch of SDRF drawn from the ‘Daring Ninth’, the 9th Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) on Monday at Central Training Institute (CTI) of the Home Guards and Civil Defence at Toluvi, under Dimapur district.
He admitted that though the state has been talking of disaster management for a long time, it had remained only in paper as Nagaland did not have its own such disaster response force. He said with the phase-wise training in disaster management of personnel drawn from the five IRBs, including the only Mahila IRB, so that the SDRF can soon take the lead in search and rescue operations.
He said in a state like Nagaland which had witnessed years of turmoil following insurgency, most people, including police, have the wrong concept that the duty of police is to maintain law and order and contain insurgency, and that they have no role in disaster management.
” Now that insurgency problem has ebbed, it is time for the police to go back to their basic duty-to help citizens. Disaster management is very much in nature of police job and helping people in times of need and distress is in the original charter of role of police,” he said.
The chief secretary also launched the logo of the Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA).
Nagaland Director General of Police (DGP) K. Kire and Director General for Prison and Home Guards O. Alem also spoke on the occasion as the Guests of Honour.
Mr Kire, in his speech informed that by April 2012, the SDRF will have a force of 5,000 from the state Police to operate during any disaster. (UNI)