Civilians to help with disaster management
State to recruit 3,000 volunteers
After developing a formidable institutional system in disaster
management, the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) is now
planning to create a pool of trained civil defence volunteers to reduce
disaster risk.
The idea is to have 3,000 such volunteers across the State in four years in keeping with a proposal in the first State Disaster Management Plan approved by the government last year.
As a pilot project, the National Disaster Management Authority has approved the training of 200 civil defence force volunteers in Kottayam under its Aapatha Mithra scheme. The programme is likely to be launched jointly by the Chief Minister and Revenue Minister on October 13, the International Day for Disaster Reduction.
“We are also in the process of activating the Civil Defence Institute at Thrissur spread over 7.50 acres that is at present used by the National Disaster Response Force,” Tomin J. Thachankary, Director General of Fire and Rescue, Home Guards and Civil Defence, said.
These volunteers will be assigned specific roles and will be trained in tasks like early warning, search and rescue, crowd management, shelter management and administration of first aid. In the event of a disaster, the civil defence volunteers in close proximity will act as first responders. They will have legal protection unlike the impromptu volunteers who descend on the scene of a disaster now.
Legal sanctity
Whether these volunteers will have to be given legal sanctity and formalised as civil defence force under the Civil Defence Act, 1968, will be decided by SDMA at a later stage depending up on their capabilities and subject to the concurrence of the Director General of Fire and Rescue, Home Guards and Civil Defence.
Those who satisfy specific criteria are identified by the Fire and Rescue Services Department and submitted to the Disaster Management Authority chaired by the District Collector for approval to be enlisted as civil defence volunteers. These volunteers will remain under the control of the collector and their administration and training will be the responsibility of the Fire and Rescue Services.
The idea is to have 3,000 such volunteers across the State in four years in keeping with a proposal in the first State Disaster Management Plan approved by the government last year.
As a pilot project, the National Disaster Management Authority has approved the training of 200 civil defence force volunteers in Kottayam under its Aapatha Mithra scheme. The programme is likely to be launched jointly by the Chief Minister and Revenue Minister on October 13, the International Day for Disaster Reduction.
“We are also in the process of activating the Civil Defence Institute at Thrissur spread over 7.50 acres that is at present used by the National Disaster Response Force,” Tomin J. Thachankary, Director General of Fire and Rescue, Home Guards and Civil Defence, said.
These volunteers will be assigned specific roles and will be trained in tasks like early warning, search and rescue, crowd management, shelter management and administration of first aid. In the event of a disaster, the civil defence volunteers in close proximity will act as first responders. They will have legal protection unlike the impromptu volunteers who descend on the scene of a disaster now.
Legal sanctity
Whether these volunteers will have to be given legal sanctity and formalised as civil defence force under the Civil Defence Act, 1968, will be decided by SDMA at a later stage depending up on their capabilities and subject to the concurrence of the Director General of Fire and Rescue, Home Guards and Civil Defence.
Those who satisfy specific criteria are identified by the Fire and Rescue Services Department and submitted to the Disaster Management Authority chaired by the District Collector for approval to be enlisted as civil defence volunteers. These volunteers will remain under the control of the collector and their administration and training will be the responsibility of the Fire and Rescue Services.
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