Himachal plans disaster force

At long last, the Himachal Pradesh government has woken up. Visited by frequent natural disasters, including two serious cloudbursts recently, the state police now plans to have four companies, especially trained and equipped to combat such calamities.

Originally conceived as a special force for earthquake disasters, the authorities have now altered its objective and decided to impart it the necessary training to carry out rescue and relief operations in the event of landslides and flash floods.

8216;8216;The force will move only in emergency situations,8217;8217; ADGP Prem Singh Thakur said.