NDRF alerts teams in four states to tackle rain misery

With monsoon round the corner, the NDRF has positioned its relief and rescue teams in four vulnerable states and also alerted its squads at over a dozen locations across the country to be prepared to tackle possible floods and situation caused by heavy rain.

Learning from past experiences, this is the first time that the central force has been "pre-deployed" and asked to keep an extra vigil in a large number of locations where rains and floods usually wreak 

havoc during monsoon.

As per a blueprint prepared to tackle the flood fury, the force has pre-deployed one team each in Dehradun, Almora, Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand and in Assam's Karimganj, Jharkhand's capital Ranchi and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. In all, over 1,000 NDRF personnel with over 100 boats are on "advance alert mode".

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams deployed permanently in areas of Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, West Bengal, Sikkim, Odisha, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Delhi, Bihar, Telangana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have also been asked to be on alert and respond swiftly.

"The teams have been equipped with boats and life saving equipment. They can also be airlifted if required. While we have been undertaking these drills every year, this time it has been ensured that teams are proactively pre-positioned," NDRF director General OP Singh said. He said the special force has also got in touch with the state governments so that minimum time is taken to chalk out combat strategies in case flash floods or landslides occur, especially in hill states.