Pune-headquartered 5th Battalion of NDRF pre-positions teams in Maharashtra to tackle monsoon challenges

S B Singh, the Commandant or the 5th Battalion told The Indian Express, “To help the civil administration in saving the precious lives of citizens and to reduce the response time during impending disasters, teams are being pre-positioned in consultation and coordination with the State Disaster Management Authority. Pre-positioning of teams has begun from Saturday, July 15 and one team each is being placed in Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Kolhapur and Sangli districts which are highly vulnerable to disasters during monsoons.”

The 5th Battalion of the NDRF is headquartered at Sudumbare in Maval taluka near Talegaon and is located around 40 km from Pune city. With the primary operational responsibility of the states of Maharashtra and Goa, the 5th Battalion, which has a strength of 1,149 personnel, has 18 self-contained specialist teams that include engineers, technicians, electricians, canine squads, medics and paramedics.

“We cannot stop disasters, but we can arm ourselves with knowledge.”#practicesession#05bnndrf Nagpur conduct #floodwaterrescue practice session keeping in view upcoming Mansoon Season.@ndmaindia @NDRFHQ @SDMAMaharashtra @ndrf_rrc @ANI @PIB_India pic.twitter.com/AZnWEdDouc

— 5 NDRF PUNE (@5Ndrf) May 24, 2023

It also has a Regional Response Centre in Mumbai which has three teams in addition to two teams already positioned at Kanjurmarg and Ghatkopar to tackle natural calamities in Mumbai. Nagpur also has one team for quick response and relief operations, officials said.

Singh said, “Maharashtra is among the five states in the country which are most vulnerable to extreme climate events and related disasters such as floods, landslides, droughts, cyclones, tsunami etc. The state is also vulnerable to industrial and chemical accidents, rail and road accidents, etc. During monsoon season, Maharashtra is highly vulnerable to floods, especially the flash floods due to nullah overflows and issues of drainage systems. The catchment areas of rivers like Vashishti, Krushna, Godavari, Bhima, Nira, Koyna cause high levels of damage to property and lives during flooding.”

Officials said that a phone call or a news item can also trigger a response from the NDRF, instead of waiting for a formal request. They added that the teams are highly trained in conducting swift rescue and relief operations in floods and cyclones, collapsed structure search and rescue. Highly specialised dogs and state-of-the-art equipment give the teams capability to locate trapped victims in large areas in the shortest possible time. These teams have the capability to respond to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) challenges and high-rise mountain rescue operations.

Officials said the 5th Battalion undertakes regular and intensive training and familiarisation exercises and conducts various types of mock drills and joint exercises with other stakeholders to instill a culture of disaster preparedness. After personnel and officers are deputed to the NDRF, they undergo a basic first responder course of six months and later on, sections of personnel get advanced specialised training in deep diving, collapsed structure search and rescue, CBRN emergencies, psycho-social intervention, special search and rescue, helicopter slithering, borewell rescue, school safety and firefighting.

The NDRF also actively participates in Aapda Mitra Scheme, a flagship programme of the National Disaster Management Authority to train volunteers with skills that they would need to respond to their community’s immediate needs in the aftermath of a disaster, thereby enabling them to undertake basic relief and rescue tasks for emergencies.