New Delhi, Jan 19 (PTI) The NDRF has decided to observe 2024 as the year to prepare for an effective response against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) attacks, with the Union home ministry recently sanctioning the procurement of specialised equipment for this task, a senior officer said on Friday.
Speaking at Vigyan Bhawan here on the 19th raising day of the federal contingency force, National Disaster Response Force Director General (DG) Atul Karwal also declared that about 97-98 per cent of its rescuers were “absolutely fit” to take on any challenge given to them.
“Two incidents, the 2020 styrene gas leakage in Visakhapatnam and a gas leak in Ludhiana last year, have made us decide that we will observe 2024 as the year of CBRN response and preparedness,” the DG said.
“The Union home ministry has recently sanctioned equipment to the force for CBRN tasks even as we have prepared a new equipment authorisation list for our other tasks,” he said. Karwal said the last equipment list was prepared in 2006.
The NDRF procured four HAZMAT (hazardous material) vehicles during the recently concluded G20 Summit in the national capital at a total cost of Rs 60 crore for tackling CBRN accidents and disasters, the DG said.
The multi-tonne HAZMAT apparatus has been installed on Bharat Benz trucks and manufactured by defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). Each of these indigenously made vehicles costs about Rs 15 crore.
These vehicles are used to detect the roots of CBRN attacks, monitor and track them and can also be used to decontaminate or plug the source of such an outbreak.
Each vehicle is armed with a communication setup via a dish antenna erected on its roof and a GPS system, a CBRN shelter and an air filtration and conditioning unit. It can hold six people in an air-tight compartment that can be sealed by a heavy metal gate.
Each of these vehicles have night vision devices and the operators can keep in touch with a control and command centre outside from where a rescue operation can be launched to tackle a CBRN attack.
The DG said three NDRF teams trained to tackle forest fires are in place now and the equipment for them is being procured at a fast pace. The NDRF was directed to skill its rescuers in this domain last year.
Karwal said the force has done better in terms of physical and mental fitness. As in January 2022, the force had 65 per cent of its manpower below the 25 BMI (body mass index) standard but now 90 per cent of its personnel were either below or at BMI of 25.
“Out of the rest 10 per cent, seven-eight per cent are also passing the BMI standard test and hence, I can say, that as of today, 97-98 per cent of the NDRF is absolutely fit,” he added.
As per the WHO, BMI is a measure for indicating nutritional status in adults. It is defined as a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of the person’s height in metres. A BMI of 25 or below is considered good, as per experts.
Karwal also said the force was working to ensure that there is a permanent physiotherapist and trained counsellor in each of its 16 battalions so that rescuers who come back from operations where they see death, despair and pain can be counselled and relaxed.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has also sanctioned eight new Regional Response Centres (RRCs) for stationing small teams of NDRF rescuers in various states, the DG said.
The NDRF has 28 RRCs at present and these bases host elite teams of rescuers, vehicles and equipment who can rush to a disaster site under their jurisdiction.
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, who officiated as the chief guest at the force’s raising day event, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it a point to ensure that agencies like the NDRF are strengthened and their capabilities enhanced.
Rai said India has sent humanitarian assistance to various countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Indonesia, Cambodia, Lebanon, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Turkiye, Ukraine, Syria and Palestine as part of the Modi government’s foreign policy of ‘vasudhaiva kutumbakam’ (the world is one family).
“In the face of climate change, the NDRF should be ready to face a multitude of challenges and it is our aim to modernise the force,” the minister said.
The NDRF was raised this day in 2006 and at present, has a strength of more than 18,000 men and women rescuers deployed across the country as part of 16 battalions and 28 RRCs.
It undertakes operations to mitigate and combat man-made and natural disasters like earthquakes, floods and train accidents among others.
As per official data, the NDRF saved 6,000 lives, evacuated 51,000 people from disaster-hit areas to safer places apart from rescuing 3,000 animals like cattle and dogs during its 900 operations undertaken across the country in 2023. PTI NES IJT IJT
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