Women IPS officers rise to the challenge, steer Himachal Pradesh’s flood response

The women police officers took charge and led the way in addressing the crisis, including SPs in Kullu, Mandi, and Kangra.

The Water Resources Department has also set new rates for commercial consumers and institutions. (PTI Photo)

5 min readLudhianaJul 16, 2023 11:42 PM IST First published on: Jul 16, 2023 at 06:53 PM IST

Mandi and Kullu districts have been the hardest hit by the recent floods in Himachal Pradesh, which claimed over 110 lives and caused extensive damage to infrastructure. Power outages, water supply disruptions, and a lack of mobile network connectivity persisted for several days, underscoring the need for effective crisis management. In this challenging situation, it was the women police officers who took charge and led the way in addressing the crisis, including SPs in Kullu, Mandi, and Kangra. Not only this, the overall affairs were also controlled by the ADGP (vigilance and anti-corruption bureau), who was also given additional charge as DGP when the state was on its toes.

Satwant Atwal Trivedi, ADGP (vigilance and anti-corruption bureau)

On June 23, Satwant Atwal Trivedi got the additional charge of DGP after DGP Sanjay Kundu went on a month-long leave. DGP Kundu, however, cut short his leave and joined duty on July 14 after the devastating flash floods. While the July 8-9 heavy rains followed by flash floods and landslides had almost crippled the state, ADGP Trivedi used Twitter to connect with stranded tourists and provide relief to their concerned families.

Satwant Atwal Trivedi

Speaking to The Indian Express, Atwal, a 1996 batch officer who is the first woman IPS of Himachal Pradesh, said,” Well, there is always room for improvement, I can’t say that we were outstanding in handling this crisis. We will definitely have more improvements during our next assignment but as of now, I am satisfied with the way our police force is managing this crisis in a very calm manner. These are the testing times for all of us …and being in a hill state, we all have been trained to handle such challenges.”

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She added,” We are busy rescuing the tourists and many more are yet to be sent back to their houses.. we are looking for them in all remote locations.”

Trivedi, who also happens to be the first woman officer in NIA and BSF, is credited for successfully incorporating emerging technologies such as Artificial intelligence into the Border Security Force.

Sakshi Verma, SP Kullu

Sakshi Verma, a 2014 batch IPS officer, is the superintendent of police, Kullu, which is the most affected district in the recent floods and landslides. She acknowledged the lessons learned from the crisis and highlighted the need for improved communication infrastructure, including satellite phones and wireless connectivity, to facilitate effective coordination.

“Yes, we have learned a lot of lessons out of this crisis …we need to have more satellite phones, more wireless phones, and power back up in our essential sectors. Firstly we focused on making connections with the tourists so as to assure that they were safe, side by side we got roads cleared and then started the process of sending them back, many have been rescued by foot as well. .. however, our team effort is working well and we still need to manage lots of things at the backend. As Manali, Banjar areas of Kullu are the most sought-after tourist places in the state, no doubt we have an extra load but we are working as a team,” she said.

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Verma emphasised that their primary focus was on ensuring the safety of tourists, clearing roads, and organizing the safe return of stranded individuals.

She said,” We feel that we need to have more phone lines at our control rooms as the distress calls of relatives of tourists made us realise that this service needs to be expanded .. we had many challenges ahead ..hence to communicate, we had got dropped satellite phones at the higher altitudes so that we can communicate in the absence of any mobile network.”

Soumya Sambasivan, SP Mandi

Women IPS officers rise to the challenge, steer Himachal Pradesh's flood response

Soumya Sambasivan, SP Mandi

A 2010 batch IPS officer, Soumya Sambasivan is popular in the state for training young girls on how to use pepper spray as self defence. She had conducted such sessions during her postings in Sirmaur and Shimla. During the flood crisis, Soumya was seen walking in rainy weather in the markets and in remote villages convincing people to move to safer areas. “We have tried to locate people in every remote location and so far our department’s information, all of the tourists have moved out of our district. Our focus is now on rehabilitation as locals need time to settle and come back to their normal lives,” she said.

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Shalini Agnihotri, SP Kangra

Shalini Agnihotri

Though Kangra wasn’t as vulnerable as Mandi and Kullu, it recorded four deaths related to heavy rainfall. Kangara police now face the challenge of safeguarding the locals as the Beas river carried logs downstream. Even on Saturday, five district roads were blocked in Kangra. Agnihotri underlined the importance of crisis management and the need for enhanced vigilance to ensure the safety of the local population.