Maiden NDRF unit to be stationed in Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad, Feb 16 (PTI) A permanent National DisasterResponse Force (NDRF) battalion, the first-ever to be set upin cyclone-prone Andhra Pradesh, to deal with emergencysituations, is coming up in Guntur district.

The proposed NDRF unit comprising over 1,000 personnelwill be equipped with modern gadgets and would be stationed ona 50-acre land in Mangalagiri town located between Vijayawadaand Guntur, they said.

"The state government had issued orders for handing over50-acre land for setting up the permanent NDRF battalion inMangalagiri town and the Revenue department transferred theland in the name of NDRF last week," a senior official of theState Disaster Management Department told PTI.

The official said, the infrastructure work (forbuildings) for the first-ever NDRF unit was likely to becompleted in one year time and more than 1,000 personnelcomprising doctors, para-medical staff, swimmers and suchprofessionals would be permanently stationed here.

The need for an exclusive NDRF unit for Andhra Pradeshwas felt as coastal districts of the state are vulnerable tocylones and floods, and whenever such disaster and any othernatural calamity strikes, the forces from this proposed unitcan be immediately deployed for rescue and relief operations.

"Till now, whenever cyclones or floods occurred in thecoastal areas of Andhra Pradesh, the NDRF forces from Chennaiand Bhubaneshwar were called in for dealing with thesituation," he said and elaborated that once the NDRF unitstarts functioning in AP, the personnel who would have localknowledge on the areas could be deployed in the shortest time.

"During any emergency situation, time plays a crucialrole for the forces and in case of any natural calamity in thefuture the personnel from Mangalagiri NDRF unit can be shiftedto coastal districts quickly," the official added.