CONTENT

Sr. No. PARTICULARS Page No.

1 Introduction 2

2 History 3

3 Location of NDRF Battalions 5

4 Training and Mock Drills 7

5 Community Based Disaster Preparedness 9

6 Workshops/Exhibitions 10

7 Tie Ups 12

8 Role of NDRF 14

9 Capabilities and Strength of NDRF 15

10 Disaster Response 16

11 Loopholes In Working of NDRF 28

12 Future of NDRF 30

13 Conclusion 31

14 Bibliography

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INTRODUCTION:

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is a disaster response agency under National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) created by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. It was established in 2009 in Delhi, for disaster management and specialized response to natural and man-made disasters. Functioning at state and central-level under the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) based in Delhi, it consists of ten battalions of Central Armed Police Forces, including three each of the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and two each of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

NDRF operates under a Director General appointed by the Central Government. The NDRF undertakes immediate relief operations after a disaster. A 10,000 strong force-handpicked from the CRPF, CISF, ITBP and the BSF has undergone training relating to relief operations.

At present, National Disaster Response Force consists of ten battalions, two each from the BSF, CRPF, two CISF and ITBP. Each battalion will provide 18 self-contained specialist search and rescue teams of 45 personnel each including engineers, technicians, electricians, dog squads and medical/paramedics. The total strength of each battalion is approximately 1,149.

Vision of NDRF is to emerge as the most visible and vibrant multi-disciplinary, multi-skilled, high-tech force capable to deal with all types of natural as well as manmade disasters and to mitigate the effects of disasters.

Motto of NDRF is motto “AAPDA SEVA SADAIV” which is clearly visible in its logo.

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HISTORY:

Two national calamities in quick succession in the form of Orissa Super Cyclone (1999) and Gujarat Earthquake (2001) brought about the realization of the need of having a specialist response mechanism at National Level to effectively respond to disasters. This realization led to the enactment of the Disaster Management Act (DM Act) on 26 Dec 2005. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was constituted to lay down the policies, plans and guidelines for disaster management.

The DM Act has made the statutory provisions for constitution of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) for the purpose of specialized response to natural and man-made disasters. Accordingly, in 2006 NDRF was constituted with 08 Battalions (02 Battalions each from BSF, CRPF, ITBP and CISF). As on date NDRF is having strength of 10 Battalions. Each NDRF Battalions consists of 1149 personnel. Union cabinet has also approved the conversion/up-gradation of 02 Battalions from SSB. The force is gradually emerging as the most visible and vibrant multi–disciplinary, multi-skilled, high-tech, stand alone force capable of dealing with all types of natural and man-made disasters. All the ten battalions are being equipped and trained to combat all natural disasters including four battalions in combating radiological, nuclear, biological and chemical disasters.

The DM Act, 2005 envisages a paradigm shift from the erstwhile response centric syndrome to a proactive, holistic and integrated management of disasters with emphasis on prevention, mitigation and preparedness. This national vision inter alia, aims at inculcating a culture of preparedness among all stakeholders.

NDRF has proved its importance in achieving this vision by highly skilled rescue and relief operations, regular and intensive training and re-training, capacity building & familiarization exercises within the area of responsibility of respective NDRF Battalions, carrying out mock drills and joint exercises with the various stakeholders.

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LOCATION OF NDRF BATTALIONS:

These NDRF battalions are located at ten different locations in the country based on the vulnerability profile of country and to cut down the response time for their deployment at disaster site.

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TRAINING AND MOCK DRILLS:

The key to efficient disaster response depends primarily on effectiveness of training and re-training of “specialized disaster response forces”. With this vision, a detailed “Training Regime for Disaster Response” has been prepared by NDRF identifying the specific disaster response training courses and devising a unified, structured and uniform course module as well as syllabus for these training courses.

The proportion behind a unified, structured, uniform course module and syllabus is that first the entire NDRF battalions will successfully attain these courses and subsequently the State Disaster Response Forces and other stakeholders will be trained on the same lines. The need of uniformly structured course module emerged from the fact that if all the NDRF battalions and other ‘first responders’ undergo the training exercise, the coordination between different stakeholders would be expedient and well planned at the time of any major disaster where different NDRF battalions, SDRF battalions and other stakeholders will be working together in close coordination with each other.

NDRF also organizes mock drills in which it creates real life environment so that its members are trained for every possible situation. Training under real life environment helps NDRF member to handle pressure in face of real disasters.

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Mock drills help NDRF to identify their mistakes and correct them as it would be fatal if these mistakes are made during the times of actual disasters. They also help NDRF to improve their response time and improve their quality as a unit. Mock drills also provide an insight to the common people of the working of NDRF.

NDRF personnel are trained in prestigious institutes like NISA, DRDO, BARC, CME, Army, Navy and Air Force as well in foreign countries like USA, Singapore, China, Finland, Korea, Switzerland etc.Some of the important trainings undertaken abroad are

OPCW Chemical Emergency Course, Finland,

Management of Dead Bodies, Geneva, Switzerland,

Advanced Search & Rescue Course, Florida, USA,

Chemical Exercise, OPCW, Tehran, Iran,

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Bioterrorism Table top Exercise, Montreux, Switzerland.

COMMUNITY BASED DISASTER PREPAREDNESS:

Awareness and preparedness campaigns are key components of proactive approach on Disaster Management. In case of any disaster, the local population is the actual first responder. It may take some time for the district/ state administration to mobilize rescue teams, including police, fire personnel etc. If the local person is properly sensitized about the precautions and preventive actions to be taken in case of any calamity, the loss of life and damage to property can be drastically reduced. Thus, one of the most important tasks of NDRF is to continuously engage themselves in the Community Capacity Building and Public Awareness programmes in a big way which includes training of people (the first responders) and concerned government officials at different levels in the areas with high vulnerability. Along with Community Capacity Building and Public Awareness exercises NDRF is also actively engaged in area familiarization exercises. Such exercises provide first-hand knowledge about the topography, access route to various disaster prone areas, availability of local infrastructure/ logistics which can be used in disaster response operations.

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WORKSHOPS/EXHIBITIONS:

NDRF Battalion Pune put up an exhibition of International standard at TechFest 2010 (The annual International Science and Technology Festival of IIT Mumbai) and organized demonstrations on Heli-Rescue, Collapsed Structure Search & Rescue, High-Rise Building Rescue and Dog Show between 22–24 Jan 2010 aimed at generate awareness among the visitors. TechFest 2010 was inaugurated by Gen. N. C. Vij. Honorable vice-chairman, NDMA. This three-day event witnessed more than 70,000 visitors, 15,000 participants, nearly 2,000 colleges and approximately 5,000 members of Industry and academia. The exhibition and demonstrations of NDRF were highly appreciated by the visitors.

Some of the important exhibitions organized by NDRF are as below:

2007

UNOCHA, Annual USAR Team Leaders Meeting – 13–15 March 2007

2nd Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction – Nov 2007

2008

Workshop on ‘Disaster Risk Management’ at Itanagar, Aurnachal Pradesh – 17–18 April 2008

Workshop on ‘Disaster Preparedness’ at Shillong, Meghalaya – 10–11 June 2008

Workshop on ‘Disaster Risk Reduction’ at Agartala, Tripura – 12–13 Dec 2008

Exhibition on Disaster Management, Army Training Command at Bhubaneswar, Orissa –

13–14 Dec 2008.

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2009

A workshop cum exhibition on Disaster Management, University of Pune, Maharashtra – 12–13 Jan 2009

Workshop on ‘Disaster Risk Reduction’ at Aizawl, Mizoram – 11–12 June 2009

2010

TechFest 2010 (The annual International Science and Technology Festival of IIT Mumbai) – 22–24 Jan 2010

Technika 2010, the annual technical festival of Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra −26

March 2010

Exhibition on Disaster Awareness, Bihar Divas at Gandhi Maidan, Patna – 22–24 March

2010

Participation in TATPAR 2010 (Mega-Exhibition on disaster management organized by

Disaster Management Department of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai) at

Shivaji Park, Mumbai – 26–27 Feb 2010

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TIE UPS:

Tie up with AIIMS:

To provide quick and effective medical care, NDRF has signed a MoU with Apex Trauma Centre of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). 

"Under this MOU, both the organizations intend to have co-operation which shall allow them the opportunity and the instrument to develop and implement mutually beneficial and agreed upon activities, programs and training," said NDRF DG. 

He said that the collaboration between NDRF and Apex Trauma Centre of AIIMS will be in the field of capacity building initiatives with particular focus on providing medical care during disaster response operations. As per MOU, on the request of NDRF, Apex Trauma Centre of AIIMS will provide medical experts, nurses and para-medics for deployment along with search and rescue teams of NDRF during major natural disasters within the country. 

This arrangement will facilitate in establishing a proper field hospital with the support of medical component of NDRF. This arrangement will facilitate in establishing a proper field hospital with the support of medical component of NDRF. Consequently, Apex Trauma Centre will send a list of qualified and willing medical specialists and experts to NDRF to participate in rescue and relief operations on humanitarian grounds. 

"NDRF will be extending all administrative support to such experts for their efficient functioning. This MOU will be helpful to NDRF in improving the efficiency of its medical officers, nurses and para-medics in the form of on-the-job training and hands-on experience in handling emergency cases," Singh added. 

The 10,000 strong NDRF force has so far rescued over 4.21 lakh people from disaster situations and retrieved close to 2,000 dead bodied. It has also trained over 35.5 lakh volunteers through various community capacity building programmes.

Tie up with Google during Uttarakhand floods:

 People with no clue about the location of their friends and relatives stranded in J&K can now simply Google it. In the absence of a central database on the status of those trapped in the state, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has tied up with the search engine to upload data that can be accessed by anyone.

The rescue operations in the state are beset with the same problems faced during the 2013

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Uttarakhand floods. With phone lines down, multiple agencies involved in rescue efforts and no central database of the missing or rescued; no one knows who is alive, missing or dead. To bring clarity, Google.org has made a special page on the J&K crisis using its web application — the Google Person Finder. Data for this page is being provided by NDRF and other agencies involved in rescue work.Google Person Finder is an open source web application that provides a registry and message board for survivors, family, and loved ones affected by a natural disaster to post and search for information about each other's status. It was created by volunteer Google engineers in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Tie up with IAF and raising companies:

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) will raise 10 special companies of international standards, said NDRF Director-General Mahboob Alam.Once the special companies are trained, the NDRF, which is the only trained force to tackle disasters, will carry out rescue operations across the world, he added.

“The force is taking up more community awareness programmes to improve its network,” Mr. Alam said.

“The NDRF has tie-up with the Indian Air Force (IAF) for providing helicopters to rush to the spot as early as possible during a calamity. The aim of the NDRF is to minimise human loss during disasters. We will train the special team personnel with all techniques to handle emergencies across the globe,” Mr. Alam said.

In addition to the existing 10 battalions, two more battalions are being trained in the country. One company will be positioned in Hyderabad soon, and the force has requested the State government to allot space for the new company.

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ROLE OF NDRF

NDRF’s role can be divided into three parts1. Pre-Disaster-

(a)Will impart Disaster Management training to the local police, District Authorities and other stakeholders.

(b)Will organize community awareness and preparedness program during familiarization & recee of vulnerable areas.

(c) Will impart training to the teachers and school children in the management of Natural Disaster

2. During Disaster-(a)Pro-active deployment at disaster site.

(b)Provide hi-tech-specialist response during search and rescue of victims.

(c)Provide immediate relief with available men and material in the effected areas.

3. Post Disaster-(a)To assist states in recovery-maintenance of normalcy at the areas of disaster.

The vision of the NDMA is to build a safer and disaster resilient India by developing a holistic, proactive, multi-disaster and technology driven strategy for Disaster Management. This has to be achieved through a culture of prevention, mitigation and preparedness to generate a prompt and efficient response at the time of disasters.

NDRF has proved its importance in achieving this vision by:– Highly skilled rescue and relief operations.

– Regular and intensive training and re-training.

– Familiarization exercises, community awareness and capacity building within the area of responsibility.

– carrying out mock drills and joint exercises with the various stakeholders.

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NDRF has executed 67 disaster response operations in 13 states of the country and have saved 1,31,870 precious human lives and retrieved 202 dead bodies till now.

CAPABILITIES AND STRENGTH OF NDRF

1. Capable in CSSR(Collapsed Structure Search and Rescue) Operations.

2. Trained in MFR(Medical First Responder)

3. Trained in Flood and Mountain Rescue operations

4. Each unit has deep divers.

5. 36 dogs would be present with capability of search and rescue operation.

6. Presence of specialized manpower viz. 36 Engineers, 19 Doctors, 36 Nurses, 18Technician, 18 Electricians etc. make it a highly specialized professional force.

7. Authorization and presence of highly specialized equipments.

8. High mobility.

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DISASTER RESPONSE:

Over the years NDRF has proved its efficacy with its commendable performance during various disasters including the drowning cases, building collapses, landslides, devastating floods and Cyclones.  NDRF has saved more than 135,000 human lives and retrieved over 275 dead bodies of disaster victims in more than 70 response operations in the country.

Some of the major operations of NDRF are listed below:

1. 2007 - GUJRAT FLOODS:

Rescued 290 people and distributed 3750 packets of food.

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2. 2009 - CYCLONE AILA WEST BENGAL

Rescued 2,000 people; distribution of medicine to 30,000 victims & food packets to 16,000 homeless victims.

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3. 2010 - CHLORINE LEAKAGE AT SHIWADI, MUMBAI

Neutralized 835 cylinders at Mumbai Port Trust.

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4. 2010 - RADIATION EMERGENCY AT MAYAPURI SCRAP MARKET, NEW DELHI

NDRF’s operation was to search the scrap market for radioactive source.

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5. 2011 - EARTHQUAKE TSUNAMI IN JAPAN

A 46 member team of NDRF was deployed from 27/03/2011 to 07/04/2011. Team managed to extricate 07 bodies from the rubble more than two weeks after the disaster struck the area. The team recovered & handed over cash worth fifty million yen to the authorities apart from the valuables.

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6. 2012 - TRAIN ACCIDENT MALIGAON, GUWAHATI

Two teams of NDRF were deployed to assist in the rescue operation. Both teams rescued and evacuated 40 persons from the damaged and de-railed train coaches.

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7. 2012 - BOAT CAPSIED, DHUBRI ASSAM

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A team of about 100 NDRF rescuers and deep divers responded to an incident in which a fiery had capsized in River Brahmaputra. 19 bodies were recovered and handed over to the aggrieved families.

8. 2012 - SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATION ISAPUR, DELHI

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A person went missing in pond at Isapur, Nazafgarh. The local body requested to send a rescue team for rescue operation. On reaching the incident site, NDRF team carried out search and rescue operation and recovered dead body.

9. 2011 - FIRE INCIDENT IN AMRI HOSPITAL, KOLKATA

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In December 2011, a fire incident occurred in AMRI hospital in Kolkata. NDRF got call from state authorities regarding assistance in locating any possible radiation threat from the sensitive radiology department of hospital as well as the medical equipments during fire. After the through radiation detection for around one hour team declared hospital free from any hazardous radiation.

10. 2013 – NORTH INDIA FLASH FLOODS, KEDARNATH

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5700 dead, 33,000 rescued and 9 NDRF officials lost their lives during the rescue operation.

11. 2014 – MALIN LANDSLIDE, PUNE

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151 dead, 100 missing and 22 people rescued.

12. 2014 – JAMMU KASHMIR FLOODS

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277 deaths and 200,000 rescued.In order to expedite relief operations in flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir, the NDRF team has introduced advanced medical services. It used Terrain vehicle to negotiate certain areas where conventional vehicles are not able to go, example 2.5 feet of water, a gradient of 20-30 feet to carry out the rescue operation.

LOOPHOLES IN WORKING OF NDRF:

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India as a country is susceptible to various natural and man-made disasters. In addition, irregular and illegal mining and unauthorized construction continues to destroy the natural defenses against flooding, landslides or even earthquakes, greatly escalating the problems.

While it is not possible to eliminate the disasters completely, its impact can be greatly reduced by proper preparedness and due care.

Natural calamities and disasters have time and again exposed the weak state of disaster preparedness and rescue and relief infrastructure. It has also highlighted the weaknesses of the NDMA and NDRF in responding to natural disaster and handling devastations.

In 2013, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) released a performance report on India’s disaster preparedness.  It found critical gaps in the preparedness level for various disasters.  It found NDMA to be ineffective in most of the core areas since it neither had information and control over the progress of the work at the state level nor could it successfully implement various projects.  The report stated that the National Executive Committee had not met after May 2008; the National Plan for Disaster Management has not yet been formulated and there were delays and mismanagement in respect of State Disaster Response Fund.

NDRF was set under NDMA Act which itself had certain shortcomings which contributed to its poor implementation record. Experts have pointed out loopholes in the Act, which might make it less effective.  They include (a) Lack of clear guidelines on who shall be entitled to relief and compensation under the Act;

(b)Lack of clarity on who shall be monitoring the performance of the various agencies set up under the Act;

(c)Lack of clarity about coordination between the different agencies;

(d) No guideline on how to differentiate between a disaster and a disaster of severe magnitude;

(e) No provision for declaring a disaster prone zone or classifying disasters in various categories.

In Uttarakhand tragedy, food packets dropped by helicopters were swept away in the river. Many copters returned with the food packets, having found no safe place to drop them.

While there has been exemplary efforts and act of bravery on the part of NDRF personnel that deserves to be applauded, the incident has exposed significant loopholes at the leadership, infrastructure, planning, and therefore, responsiveness levels.

Significant positions in the NDMA are still lying vacant, which impede its proper functioning. It is essential that the structure of the NDMA and NDRF be revamped. Instead of political appointments, experts from military and the other relevant fields should be appointed. Their expertise will prove highly beneficial in both mitigation and in the face of a crisis.

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None of the mitigation and vulnerability mapping projects of NDMA has been completed. Further NDMA has neither disbursed many of the funds that were at its disposal, nor has it started the systematic assessment of major national projects, which will help in the development of structural requirements for disaster reduction.

Despite having massive investment, there has been no great increase in infrastructure of Satellite based communication network, Digital Surveillance of flood prone areas. This has greatly hampered the ability to respond to disasters.

In addition, the NDRF does not have sufficient trained personnel. The standard operating procedures for their deployment has also not been fixed. Only few states have raised State disaster response forces. There have also been major delays and mismanagement of the funds for the State disaster response fund. Large amount were left unspent by the respective states. Moreover the very basic emergency services like fire brigades are not properly equipped or staffed.

The level of preparedness for disaster management at the centre and the states is very uneven.  According to a report by the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, even after six years of the enactment of the Disaster Management Act, many states have not yet established the state-level authorities.  The report concludes that the present capability of civil administration for combating disasters remains inadequate and they rely on the armed forces for major emergency responses.

Response to a specific disaster is the best test of the level of disaster preparedness.  However, the response to the Kashmir floods has exposed the lack of preparedness of administrative machinery.  While natural disasters may be unpredictable, India cannot afford to wait for the next disaster to strike before getting its act together.

Future for NDRF:

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NDRF will raise two more battalions to strengthen its cadre in view of enormity of the task. Two more battalions will be raised from SSB soon in addition to existing 10 battalions raised from CRPF, CISF and other armed forces. The Central government has accepted the proposal for recruitment of engineers, doctors, paramedic’s staff on contract basis for 3 to 5 years to overcome shortage of manpower in the force. Earlier, they were recruited only at the time of disaster for a shorter period of time which attracted fewer people to join them. To motivate personnel, the central government has also decided to provide "NDRF response medal" to personnel who completes three year in the dedicated disaster management force.

Rajnath Singh,Home minister promised to provide "all possible assistance" to the NDRF and lauded its work in saving lives across India."NDRF personnel have done commendable jobs in different disasters by rescuing people in Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and Meghalaya," he said. celebrated its raising day on Jan 19th."The government is keen to provide all possible assistance to the force including (increasing) its strength," he said.Singh also presented police medals to NDRF personnel. A souvenir and a postal cover on the 10th raising day were released on the occasion.

NDRF concept is one of its kind in world. Most of countries are responding through fire fighters. No country is having dedicated disaster response force. In coming days NDRF will be the best in its trade.

Conclusion:

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NDRF, in a short span of eight years, has acquired a niche for itself as a professional Force. It played a vital role in responding to various disasters, be they natural or man-made. It is also the single largest stand-alone disaster response force in the world. NDRF is a cadre of specialist, trained, disciplined and dedicated personnel who can render relief and response services in best of the manner in worst of the situations.

At present NDRF response time is 20 minute which is of international level. NDRF is a cadre of specialist, trained, disciplined and dedicated personnel who can render relief and response services in best of the manner in worst of the situations. Also NDRF should acquire new capabilities and regularly update its training & equipment.

Disaster Response Management is a multiagency function coordinated at a nodal point for effective delivery of relief to the victim of disaster. There is a need for a high degree of cooperation and coordination between the various agencies. It is essential that all the agencies are involved in disaster planning and preparation. The development projects should also be sensitive towards disaster management.

We as a nation are grossly under-prepared to tackle most natural disasters as was very clearly witnessed in Kashmir. Many hundreds of lives were lost, and thousands of livelihoods were destroyed. It is essential that we learn from the lapses that this tragedy has exposed.

“Preparedness is the only way we can combat a disaster.”

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

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1. ndrfandcd.gov.in

2. Wikipedia.org

3. thehindu.com

4. timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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