Disaster Management dept mulls 'Quick Response Teams' for each district

Kolkata: The state Disaster Management and Civil Defence department is planning to set up a Quick Response Team (QRT) for each district, including Kolkata, to ensure better help to people at the time of any emergency.

According to a senior official of the department, who didn't want to be quoted, there was a discussion in connection with the setting up of QRTs, after a District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) for each district came into existence.

The main task of the QRTs will be to plunge into immediate action as soon as there is an alert of any natural calamity or emergency situation.

The QRTs will be comprised of civil defence volunteers. There will be one QRT in each district and the numbers of volunteers in each of them will be depending on the number of sub-divisions in a district.

If everything goes as planned, then there will be 25 volunteers for a sub-division. Citing an example, the official said that if there are three sub-divisions in a district, then there will be 75 volunteers in the QRT of that district.

It may be mentioned that a disaster management plan has been prepared for the districts and it easily points out the areas vulnerable to natural calamity. It also demarcates the areas which are prone to floods, earthquakes, draught, etc.

The district-wise disaster management plan helps in carrying out proactive work, so that losses due to natural calamities get minimised. Moreover, the nature of calamity varies in districts in North and South Bengal. It is completely different in Kolkata and its adjacent urban areas as well. So, the district management plan ensures well planned rescue operations in case anything goes wrong, the official said.

At the same time, DDMAs are formed with respective district magistrates as their chairmen, who will be supervising the QRTs. In Kolkata, commissioner of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is the chairman of DDMA. So, the QRT in Kolkata will be operating under his supervision.

Though chairmen of the DDMAs will supervise and give necessary directions to the respective QRTs under them, the civil defence volunteers will rush to the spot in case of any emergency under the leadership of a field officer. The field officer will be maintaining liaison with concerned senior officials.