Delhi to have its own disaster response force soon

New Delhi, Feb 17 (IANS) Delhi will soon have its own disaster response force, created on the lines of the National Disaster Response Force.

The decision was taken at a meeting between National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Vice-Chairman Shashidhar Reddy and Delhi Lt. Governor Tejinder Khanna Friday, two days after a mega mock drill in disaster management was held in the capital.

"Some lessons were learned from the mock drill, and they were anticipated," Reddy told reporters here.

"Delhi will have its own disaster response force, the lt. governor has already given instructions to officials to take care of it," he said.

The force will be trained with the help of the NDMA on the lines of the NDRF.

He added that the force will be exclusively for disaster management and also undertake sensitisation work.

State-of-the-art disaster response centres will be set up in all districts of Delhi, Reddy said.

"One of the main shortcomings was the number of ambulances. During the mock drill we used the PCR vans," he added.

The NDMA vice-chairman added that seeing the "excellent response" of volunteers, the Delhi government will launch a drive for training more volunteers.

"We were getting calls from volunteers willing to join even as the drill was going on," Reddy said.

Delhi Wednesday witnessed one of India's biggest coordinated mock drill, simulating a 7.9 magnitude earthquake hitting the capital, to check the level of preparedness of authorities and to educate people on the dos and don'ts.

Performed in 399 building structures, including 218 schools and 24 hospitals, the drill witnessed the participation of over 40,000 common people and 15,000 government officials.

The mega drill was organised by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority and the National Disaster Management Authority.

Reddy said a bigger drill involving more states will be conducted in future, taking Karnal as the epicentre of a bigger earthquake.