SHILLONG, Oct 7: The Directorate of Civil Defence & Home Guards has clarified that the State Disaster Rescue Force (SDRF) did not claim to have rescued any victim nor that it had retrieved the bodies of all the victims of the tragic bus accident at Nongchram last week.
The clarification comes following the felicitation of four youths from Nongchram village for their heroic acts in saving the lives of many that were critically injured in the accident by getting them out of the mangled bus. During the felicitation, locals had denied the purported claims put up by rescue groups and instead hailed the four youths as “real heroes”.
In a statement issued here, the directorate said that since SDRF cannot operate on a suo moto basis, a requisition for the force was made by the District Disaster Management Authority, East Garo Hills, on September 30 with a request to retrieve two bodies from the Ringdi river. “The SDRF team stationed at Tura, having received the approval of the Head of Department, proceeded to Ringdi river and arrived there at 1345 hours on the same day. The retrieval operation of the SDRF started immediately on arrival and was halted at 1711 hours due to poor visibility and unfavourable weather condition. The two missing bodies were not recovered and the operation was called off for the day. The retrieval operation was resumed early on the next day i.e. October 1, and ended with the retrieval of the two bodies at around 1310 hours,” the statement said.
It stated that all facts relating to the SDRF retrieval operation is based on an official report received from the officers on the ground accompanied by photographic proof of the presence of the SDRF personnel at Ringdi river.
Moreover, the Directorate of Civil Defence & Home Guards, in the statement, pointed out that the role of local inhabitants in any rescue operations cannot be downplayed as they will always be the first responders in any incident. “This is the very reason that the Department is actively involved in training and empowering local inhabitants with life-saving skills to be able to respond to any crisis,” it added.
