Himachal to set up a State Disaster Response Force

SHIMLA: BK Agarwal, Chief Secretary of Himachal Pradesh, announced that the state is preparing to set up their independent disaster response force while chairing the 9^th meeting of the State Executive Committee (SEC) on May 30, 2019. The force would be patterned after the central National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and would be tasked to generate a quick, effective response to any disaster in the state.

Earthquakes, landslides, floods, flash floods, glacial outbursts, besides hailstorms, droughts and cloudbursts are few natural calamities commonly observed in the state, making it one of the most disaster prone state of the nation. This was one of the main reason behind the committee’s decision. The chief secretary mentioned that the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) would be acting under the supervision of the Department of Revenue – Disaster Management.

“It is essential to constitute an SDRF in the state, consisting of three companies from the police to deal with disasters and emergencies,” he said. Each company would have 100 personnel for effective response at the time of disaster. SDRF stations would be set up in Mandi, Arki and Mubarakpur. It was also approved to constitute a state disaster mitigation fund to take preventive measures for reduction of disasters in the state.