Meghalaya to appoint wardens to tackle emergency situation

Shillong, Nov 26 (UNI) The Meghalaya government has decided to appoint wardens in different areas of the state to assist the police during emergency-like situation.

The necessity of appointing the warden was all the more important for Meghalaya as the state falls in the highly seismic zone V of the world, especially in the wake of terror attacks in neighbouring state of Assam.

Today, headmen from different localities in Shillong underscored the importance for enrolling youths as wardens and to upgrade the data base of volunteers.

'' We will train these youths as wardens on how to control a mob, contain a panic situation and make people aware of safety measures in cases of blasts or building collapses, '' Director General of Civil Defence and Home Guards W R Marbaniang said.

The selected wardens would provide the direct link between the people in their own area and the Controller of Civil Defence.

Mr Marbaniang said the directorate would urge the government to allot daily wages for youths, enrolled with the directorate for disaster management training.

He informed that the directorate had also proposed to set up Wireless Activated Remote Siren (WARS) to mobilise information and communication for disaster warnings.

Mr Marbaniang said the department was acquiring some sophisticated equipment soon and the personnel from the department were already being trained in complex rescue operations.

In order to check the preparedness of Civil Defence and Home Guards, mock exercises in different government and private institutions were organised and thousands of students from different schools and colleges trained across the state.

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