No substitute for readiness in mountains; cloudburst, landslide risks rising annually; SDRF, NDRF, Police, BSF and SSB must enhance synergy
Rehan Qayoom Mir
Srinagar, June 18 :
Asserting that there is no substitute for readiness when dealing with challenging situations, Director General of Police (DGP) J&K, Nalin Prabhat, on Thursday said preparedness and training remain the most critical elements of disaster response
Addressing personnel from various rescue and security agencies during a joint training programme, the DGP, according to the news agency— Kashmir News Observer (KNO) said, “Mountain rescue teams play a crucial role in saving lives during emergencies, particularly as weather-related risks continue to increase every year.”
“In mountainous areas, the risk of cloudbursts and landslides is rising annually. Mountain Rescue Teams have a very important role to play. Training is a fundamental requirement for any force and any challenging task. There is no substitute for it,” DGP Prabhat said.
Recalling the rescue operation in Gulmarg, the DGP lauded SDRF and MRT personnel for their dedication, professionalism and efficiency, describing their performance as being of “global standards.” He also informed the personnel that the accommodation benefits promised to those who participated in the Gulmarg rescue operation have been approved in principle and the process is awaiting final inputs from district police authorities.
The DGP stressed that while individual forces may possess high levels of training, effective disaster response requires coordinated preparation and seamless cooperation among all agencies.
“No matter how good the training of individual forces is, unless we train together for interoperability, we cannot achieve the goal of jointness and jointmanship,” he said.
DGP Prabhat also congratulated the SDRF team for conducting a joint training capsule aimed at improving interoperability and coordinated deployment during rescue missions, terming it a first-of-its-kind initiative.
Describing NDRF as the “flag bearer” of disaster management in the country, the DGP said other agencies should learn from its standards of training, equipment and preparedness. “We would like to learn best practices from NDRF and adopt them to further strengthen our response mechanism,” he said.
Expressing confidence ahead of the forthcoming Amaranth Yatra, the DGP said, “I expect all participating agencies to maintain the same high standards of professionalism and performance demonstrated in previous rescue operations.”— (KNO)