After a decade, Himachal gets its own disaster response force
SHIMLA: Caught in red-tape for a decade, Himachal Pradesh, which is prone to natural disasters, has finally got its own state disaster response force (SDRF).
Himachal Pradesh Police have drawn 102 personnel from their battalions for the SDRF. The Kangra district administration has transferred 11.5 acres near Dharamshala for setting up the SDRF station, which will comprise 64 police personnel. The SDRF headquarters in Kangra has been temporarily set up in Palampur and will be headed by a deputy superintendent of police.
“Another 11.5 acres have been earmarked for SDRF infrastructure at Bathli in Mandi district. As many as 55 police personnel will comprise the SDRF in Mandi. The government has allotted 35 bighas (11.5 acres) for SDRF on the outskirts of Shimla town in Kutasani, where 27 police personnel trained in disaster management relief and rescue will be stationed permanently. If need be, more personnel will be inducted,” said Sudesh Mokhta, the director, State Disaster Management Authority.
“We intend to establish a world-class disaster response force as the state is vulnerable to array of distastes like earthquakes, floods, landslides and cloudbursts. We are building our capacity to be able to address these disasters by providing top-class equipment, mobility and training,” said DGP Sanjay Kundu .
Will strengthen state response to disasters
Two years ago, the government had allocated ₹5 crore to the police department for buying equipment for rescue, while ₹60 crore was allotted for the training of the personnel. “In future, the state will have its own dedicated SDRF, we will strengthen it,” Mokhta said.
Vulnerable to natural disasters, the Himachal Pradesh government had in 2011 drawn a plan to set up its own state disaster response force following the National Disaster Management Authority’s directions to all states to have its own force for carrying out rescue works.
In 2013, following the floods in Kinnaur, the then Congress government had asked all departments concerned to speed up the process to set up an SDRF. The state police had then come up with a plan to raise three companies of SDRF – one each in Pandoh of Mandi, Dharamshala and Shimla – but it never saw the light of the day.
Overall higher vulnerability of Himachal
Himachal Pradesh is prone to natural disasters. The districts of Chamba, Kinnaur, Kullu and parts of Kangra and Shimla are in the highly vulnerable category.
Kangra, Mandi, Una, Shimla and Lahaul and Spiti districts fall in the highly vulnerable risk status.
The districts of Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Solan and Sirmour fall in moderately vulnerable risk category.
Disaster management strategies and infrastructure are evolved by taking the category into consideration.
The districts of Chamba, Kullu, Kinnaur and part of Kangra and Shimla districts are highly prone to landslides, while Kangra, Mandi, Bilaspur, Shimla, Sirmour and Lahaul-Spiti districts fall in the moderate vulnerable category. The districts in the low vulnerable category are Una, Hamirpur and Solan.
The avalanche hazard vulnerability data compiled by SDMA suggests that the districts of Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur are highly vulnerable followed by Chamba, Kullu and parts of Kangra and Shimla that are moderately vulnerable.
The flood hazard vulnerability data indicates that areas in the districts of Chamba, Kullu, Una and Kinnaur fall in the highly vulnerable category, whereas Lahaul-Spiti, Mandi, Shimla, Kangra, Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Solan and Sirmour are in the moderate and low vulnerability category.