MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI MULLAPPALLY RAMACHANDRAN)
(a) to (b): Government of India has already constituted National Disaster
Response Force (NDRF) under Section 44 of the DM Act, 2005 by up-gradation/
conversion of standard battalions of Central Armed Police Force, as a
specialist force to deal with the disaster or threatening disaster situation.
A total of 10 battalions of NDRF have been raised, out of which 04 battalions
have been trained to deal with Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear
(CBRN) calamities besides natural calamities. Based on vulnerability profile
of different regions of the country, these specialist battalions have been
presently stationed at the various strategic locations all over the country
viz. Guwahati (Assam), Kolkata (West Bengal), Mundali (Odisha), Arrakonam
(Tamil Nadu), Pune (Maharashtra), Gandhi Nagar (Gujarat), Bhatinda (Punjab),
Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), Bihta, Patna (Bihar) and Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh).
(c) to (e): Sections 23 and 31 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 provides
that State Disaster Management Plan for every State and District Disaster
Management Plan for every District shall be prepared by State Executive
Committee and District Disaster Management Authority respectively and shall
be approved by State Disaster Management Authority. The State Disaster
Management Plan is required to prepare in accordance with the guidelines
laid down by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The guideline
for preparation of State Disaster Management Plans has been issued by NDMA on
July 2007 and till date 14 States have prepared draft State Disaster Management
Plans.
(f) & (g): NDMA undertakes mock exercises in vulnerable Districts and
industries on various types of natural and man-made disasters to help the
State Governments and District administration in reviewing the adequacy and
efficacy of the State and District level Disaster Management Plans and to
identify gaps in resources and systems. It is mentioned that this was for
the first time that a mega mock drill was conducted in Delhi and it
contemplates to undertake similar such mock drills in other vulnerable
States.
The details of mock drills carried out by NDMA for the period 2006- March
2012 are as given below :
S No Details Nos.
a) Mock exercises conducted in States/UTs. 231
b) Mock exercises conducted in schools/colleges. 96
c) States/UTs covered. 35
d) Districts covered. 127
e) First responder trained. 8.5 lakh approx.
f) Community sensitized. 16.5 lakh approx.
