Civil defence unit to come up in Tiruchi
Calamity – natural or manmade – calls for a skilled
force to respond swiftly to handle and manage such grave crisis
situations. A thoroughly skilled band of manpower from the community
armed with necessary paraphernalia and exposed to latest aspects in
disaster management is required to deal with rescue and relief
operations with alacrity during emergencies.
Realising
the need for such a skilled force in place to assist the civil
administration when calamity strikes, the State government has proposed
to establish civil defence units in Tiruchi and four other chosen places
across Tamil Nadu.
The proposed non-uniformed force
will comprise only civilians whose assistance would be taken by the
civil administration while dealing with grave crisis situations.
The
Central government has already allocated its share of fund for the
formation of the civil defence units initially in Chennai,
Mahabalipuram, Tiruchi, Madurai and Tirunelveli. The civil defence units
would be started with 75 per cent funding from the State government and
25 per cent from the Centre.
Volunteers from the
civil population would be recruited and imparted specialised training in
a myriad of aspects connected with disaster management by personnel of
the National Disaster Response Force.
Skilled
personnel well-trained in trades, including machine operation would be
handpicked to be members of the proposed civil defence units so as to
act swiftly during natural or manmade calamity, says Additional Director
General of Police K. Muthukaruppan, Director of Civil Defence and
Additional Commandant General, Home Guards.
Training for the civil defence volunteers would be imparted at the respective district headquarters temporarily.
The
volunteers would be taken to the civil defence training institute which
would come up at Palani and imparted specialised training on a range of
aspects connected with disaster management, ADGP Muthukaruppan said.
The
government of India has sanctioned Rs.2 crore for setting up the civil
defence training institute that would be established on the Tamil Nadu
Special Police Battalion campus at Palani.
Periodic
refresher courses would also be organised at the institute for the civil
defence volunteers. The training syllabus for the volunteers has been
drafted by a high-power committee constituted by the government of
India.
The whole idea is to have a skilled band of
civil population in a state of readiness to help the civil
administration whenever natural or manmade calamity strikes, ADGP
Muthukaruppan said adding that the volunteers would essentially be
involved in rescue and relief operations.
The civil
defence unit would function directly under the respective district
Collector who would be the district controller of the unit. Though civil
defence units were initially started in States bordering neighbouring
nations, it was subsequently set up in other States too.
Post a Comment