Gujarat To Form State Disaster Response Force

AHMEDABAD, February 2: A state disaster response force (SDRF) will be formed to handle relief and rescue operations during natural and man-made calamities in Gujarat, state police chief P C Thakur said today. The 1,100-strong force will have personnel of constable and head constable ranks selected from various battalions of State Reserve Police Force (SRPF), an official release from the DGP office said. The decision was taken after Thakur had a meeting with heads of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Rapid Action Force (RAF), Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority and Commandants of nine different SRP battalions of the state, it added. To make this force as effective as NDRF and RAF, SDRF will receive training in line with them and get latest equipment and audio-video devices used by the central relief forces. All the 1,100 personnel will undergo six weeks of primary training at SRPF campus in Vadodara, the release added. Thakur will act as the head of SDRF while IG state Armed Units Ajay Kumar Chaudhary will be nodal officer, it said. According to the DGP, such force was needed for quick and effective operations during flood, earthquake, Tsunami, cyclone as well as chemical and biological disasters. According to the release, during a recently held meeting of the DGPs in Kutch, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked respective heads of state's police to strengthen disaster response operations. -PTI