The responsibility of managing disasters in India is that of the state governments. The ‘Nodal Ministry’ in the central government for management of natural disasters is the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).[3]
The force also helps in coordinating the response to a disaster that has occurred and that overwhelms the resources of state authorities.[4]
The NDRF is led by a Director General and also has several Inspector Generals (IG) and Deputy IGs, who are flag officers and wear badges of rank.[5][6]
Directors General
The head of the National Disaster Response Force is the Director General who is an Indian Police Service officer with the rank of an Additional Director General of Police. The first holder was R. K. Bhatia who served between 2009-2010. The current director general is Piyush Anand who has been in office since 1 April 2024.
NDRF battalions are located at 12 different locations in the country based on the vulnerability profile to cut down the response time for their deployment. During the preparedness period fordisaster situations, proactive deployment of these forces is to be carried out by the NDMA in consultation with state authorities. Locations of NDRF Battalions are as follows:[9]
The National Disaster Management Authority is tasked with making India safer and more disaster resilient by developing a holistic, proactive, multi-disaster and technology driven strategy for disaster management. The goal of the agency is to use a culture of prevention, mitigation and preparedness to generate a prompt and efficient response at the time of disasters.[10]
NDRF conducts rescue and relief operations, regular and intensive training, familiarization exercises within the area of responsibility of respective NDRF Battalions, and joint exercises.[citation needed]
NDRF has proved its efficacy with its commendable performance during various disasters including the drowning cases, building collapses, landslides, devastating floods and Cyclones. NDRF has saved 133,192 human lives and retrieved 2760 dead bodies of disaster victims in 73 response operations in the country. Some of the major response operations of NDRF as below:
2007
Flood in Bhavnagar, Gujarat – 3–5 July 2007 – Rescued 291 people; distributed 3,750 food packets
Flood in Rajkot, Gujarat – 3–5 July 2007 – Rescued 291 people; distributed 3,750 food packets
2008
Building collapse (Hotel Shakunt) in Ahmedabad, Gujarat – 3–5 Feb 2008 – Saved 10 people and recovered six dead bodies
Flood in Lakhimpur, Assam – 14 June – 20 July 2008 – Rescued 2500 civilians
Flood in Dhemaji, Assam – 16 June – 31 July 2008 – Rescued 600 people
Flood in Lakhimpur, Assam – 21 July – 4 August 2008 – Evacuated 2000 people
Rescue and relief operations during the Kosi breach in Bihar
Kosi breach in Bihar – 20 August 2008 – Saved over 105,000 people including women, children and the elderly; distributed medicines and water bottles
Flood in Lakhimpur, Assam – 31 Aug – 9 September 2008 – Saved 750 people
Flood in Puri, Cuttack, Kendrapara & Jagatsinghpur, Odisha – Sept 2008 – Saved over 1000 people
Flood in Kamrup, Assam – 28 September 2008 – Saved 350 people
Flood in Tiruvarur, Tamil Nadu – 26–30 Nov 2008 – Saved 773 people
Flood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu – 26 Nov – 2 December 2008 – Rescued 1550 people
2009
Cyclone Aila in North 24 Parganas & South 24 Parganas, West Bengal – 25 May – 10 June 2009 – Rescued 2000 people; distribution of medicine to 30,000 victims & food packets to 16,000 homeless victims
Flood in Barpeta, Assam – 27 May 2009 – Saved 300 people
Flood in Junagarh and Porbandar, Gujarat – 16 to 29 July 2009 – Saved 2225 people
Flood in Kasarkode, Kannur and Ernakulam, Kerala – 17–24 July 2009 – Saved 180 people
Flood in Sitamarhi, Bihar (Bagmati breach) – 2–9 Aug 2009 – Rescued 1034 people; distributed medicines to 831 victims
Flood in Howrah & Hooghly, West Bengal – 8–14 Sep 2009 – Rescue 675 people
At least 58 teams of NDRF were deputed in Kerala during a flood in August 2018 making it the highest-ever deployment of NDRF in any single state since its raising. As many as 194 people were rescued and more than 10,000 evacuated.[12]
NDRF clearing debris of the Darjeeling landslide
NDRF Response during a building collapse in Bellary, Karnataka, 2010
The NDRF teams were deployed in Assam to tackle the annual flood situation. The force carried out rescue operations, evacuating stranded people and providing them with essential relief materials.[15]
NDRF was instrumental in minimising the loss of life during the cyclone that hit Odisha. The force was involved in preemptive evacuations, search and rescue operations, and distribution of relief materials.[16]
The NDRF teams were quick to respond to the earthquake that struck Himachal Pradesh. They carried out search and rescue operations, helping to locate and save trapped individuals.[17]
The NDRF has been actively involved in rescue efforts in Bharuch district, specifically in Nikora Village. The force saved 105 people stranded in low-lying areas and relocated them to safety in collaboration with the civil administration. This operation was particularly challenging due to the water level being above the danger mark.[18]
During the Kosi breach in Bihar in August 2008, which was declared a national calamity by Prime MinisterManmohan Singh,[19][20][21][22] NDRF personnel actively engaged themselves in rescue operations and relief duties in districts Supaul, Madhepura, Araria and Purnia. About 780 NDRF personnel trained in flood rescue operations along with 153 high capacity inflatable boats and other rescue equipment were deployed in the flood affected areas. The swift and highly skilled operations of NDRF saved more than 100,000 people trapped in swirling waters of river Kosi.[23] NDRF personnel distributed relief supplies including drinking water to the stranded flood victims.[24] Medical camps were also established to provide medical care to the flood affected people. Impressed with prompt and efficient response of NDRF, Chief Minister of BiharShri Nitish Kumar approached Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singh for a NDRF Bn to be stationed in Bihar[25] and offered 65 acres (26ha) of land at Bihta near Patna.
On 25 May 2009 Cyclone Aila hit West Bengal. At least 94 people were killed, seven of them in Kolkata, over 4million people were affected. More than six lakh houses were destroyed completely or damaged partially.[26] NDRF promptly responded to the devastating situation and 600 personnel of NDRF with 84 boats and other rescue equipment started rescue and relief operations at cyclone affected areas of district 24 Pargana North and South of West Bengal.[27][28][29] During the operations NDRF personnel rescued around 2000 trapped persons and distributed 50 truckloads of relief materials to the affected people.
On 1 October 2009, in the wake of worsening flood situations in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the governments of both states sent requests for deployment of the force for rescue and relief operations. NDMA mobilised 963 flood rescue trained personnel (including some deep divers) and 308 inflatable motorised boats from 05 NDRF Bns located at Arakkonam (Chennai), Pune, Mundali (Odisha), Greater Noida and Bhatinda and airlifted on 2–3 Oct 2009 in Air Force IL-76 and AN-32 aircraft from nearest Air Force bases and Civil Airports. The rescue personnel deployed in 04 districts of Andhra Pradesh (Kurnool, Vijayawada, Mehboob Nagar and Nandyal) and 04 districts of Karnataka (Bagalkote, Raichur, Gadag and Vijaypur) and immediately started rescue and relief operations in the flood affected districts of both the states.[30][31][32]
NDRF rescued tens of thousands of persons marooned in the floods in these two states and distributed over 40 quintals of food and drinking water. The medical teams of NDRF administered medical first response and distributed medicines to the flood victims.
On 26 January 2010 a five-storey under-construction residential building collapsed at Bellary, Karnataka with about 50 people trapped under the debris. Three rescue teams (102 personnel) of NDRF Bn Pune promptly airlifted to Bellary and NDRF personnel carried out round the clock operation with the help of search & rescue equipment and dogs for nine days. In the operation the NDRF managed to rescue 20 people from under the debris. The last person was rescued on the 9th day. NDRF also retrieved 27 bodies trapped under debris.[33][34][35][36][37][38]
Training
NDRF personnel undergoing Heli-slithering TrainingFlood Rescue TrainingSearch and Rescue TrainingTraining of Dogs by Swiss ExpertsCBRN Training of NDRF Personnel
In the future, the key to efficient disaster response will depend primarily on the effectiveness of the training and re-training of Specialized Disaster Response Forces. With this vision, a detailed "Training Regime for Disaster Response" has been prepared by NDMA/NDRF identifying the specific disaster response training courses and devising a unified, structured and uniform course module as well as a syllabus for these training courses. The proposition behind a unified, structured, uniform course module and syllabus is that first the entire NDRF battalions will successfully attain these courses and subsequently the State Disaster Response Forces (SDRF) and other stakeholders will be trained on the same lines. The need for a uniformly structured course module emerged from the fact that if all the NDRF battalions and other ‘first responders’ undergo the same training exercise, the coordination between different stakeholders would be expedient and well planned at the time of any major disaster where different NDRF battalions, SDRF battalions and other stakeholders will be working together in close coordination with each other.
Chemical Exercise, OPCW, Tehran, Iran, 1–5 Nov 2008
INSARAG Asia-Pacific Exercise, Nepal, 21–24 April 2009
APCSS, Honolulu, Hawaii, US, 20 Aug – 22 September 2009
Bio-terrorism Table top Exercise, Montreux, Switzerland, 7–8 Sep 2009
Training of NDRF
While the NDRF is being trained, re-trained and equipped as a specialist force for level three disasters, it is equally important to ensure capacity building of state police personnel who are invariably the first responders in any natural or man-made disasters. To ensure this, a two-pronged strategy is being suggested to the states: firstly, to train state police personnel in the basics of disaster management and secondly, to train at least one battalion equivalent out of their state armed police units as State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) on lines of the NDRF. In addition to police personnel, the SDRFs may be constituted from existing resources of the Fire Services, Home Guards and Civil Defence. NDRF Bns and their training institutions will assist the States/UTs in this effort. The State/UTs will also be encouraged to set up DM training facilities in their respective Police Training Colleges and include this subject in their basic and in-service courses
Search and Rescue Training
Training being one of the most important attributes for an efficient force, the Government of India has recognised the recommendations of the NDMA for setting up an apex National Institute of Excellence for Search and Rescue at a central place like Nagpur to provide training of trainers and to meet other national and international commitments. Also a network of 10 outreach centres at the respective NDRF Bns locations are proposed to be set up.
Community-based disaster preparedness
Demonstration of rope rescue techniques to villagersMaking an improvised banana raftDemonstration of life-saving techniques to school childrenTraining the teachers of Pune UniversityCapacity-building programme of NDRFCapacity-building of school children
Awareness and preparednesscampaigns are key components of proactive approach on disaster management. In case of any disaster, the local population is the actual first responder. It may take some time for the district or state administration to mobilise rescue teams, including police and fire personnel. If the local people is properly sensitised about the precautions and preventive actions to be taken in case of any calamity, the loss of life and damage to property can be drastically reduced. Thus, one of the most important tasks of NDRF is to continuously engage themselves in the community capacity building and public awareness programmes, which includes training of people (the first-responders) and concerned government officials at different levels in the areas with high vulnerability. Along with community capacity building and public awareness exercises, NDRF is also actively engaged in area familiarisation exercises. Such exercises provide first-hand knowledge about the topography, access route to various disaster-prone areas, and the availability of local infrastructure/logistics which can be used in disaster response operations. The force has trained almost 4 million volunteers.
A pilot project on community capacity building and public awareness campaigns on floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters was organised by NDRF teams during June–July 2007 in 14 high vulnerable districts (Araria, Saharsa, Kishanganj, Madhepura, Supaul, Khagaria, Begusarai, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Munger, Patna, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi and Samastipur) of Bihar. In this project, 2200 volunteers and State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) officials were trained by the NDRF. This capacity building programme was continued next year also.
In 2008, NDRF embarked in a big way on community capacity building and public awareness programmes in Bihar, which included training of vulnerable people and officials in various districts. NDRF carried out three-day flood preparedness training programmes for a month in 15 vulnerable districts (Bhagalpur, East Champaran, Vaishali, Munger, Muzaffarpur, Saharsa, Madhepura, Khagaria, Begusarai, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Patna, Sitamarhi, Samastipur and Sheohar) of Bihar before monsoon season at district/Block levels. More than 15,000 village volunteers, local people, students, State Police, and also Central and State Government personnel participated in the programme.
NDRF also conducts regular mock exercises on various disasters like cyclone, flood, earthquake, NBC emergencies, mass casualty management etc. Participation in such exercises on the one hand improve the professionalism of NDRF personnel to tackle the real emergency situations and on the other provides an opportunity to interact with various State Government officials and to develop cordial relations with them that can be of great help during response to actual disasters.
As of 31 March 2010, NDRF had trained more than 6.5 lakh community volunteers throughout the country.
Workshops and exhibitions
NDRF exhibition on disaster awareness at Arunachal Pradesh
NDRF Bn Pune put up an exhibition of International standard at TechFest 2010 (the annual International Science and Technology Festival of IIT Mumbai) and organised demonstrations on Heli-Rescue, Collapsed Structure Search & Rescue, High-Rise Building Rescue and Dog Show between 22 and 24 January 2010 aimed at generate awareness among the visitors.
TechFest 2010 was inaugurated by Gen N. C. Vij, Honourable vice-chairman, NDMA. This three-day event witnessed more than 70,000 visitors, 15,000 participants, nearly 2000 colleges and approximately 5000 members of Industry and academia. The force has put on numerous other exhibitions and promotional events.
↑ Disaster Management Division (2011). "Disaster Management in India"(PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs. p.113. Archived from the original(PDF) on 15 August 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
↑ Disaster Management Division (2011). "Disaster Management in India"(PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs. pp.107–10. Archived from the original(PDF) on 15 August 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
↑ "Press Trust of India". Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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