First National Institute of Disaster Response to be set up in Nagpur

The facility would train future battalions of National Disaster Response Force,central and state forces and units from foreign countries.

The first National Institute of Disaster Response (NIDR) will be set up on the outskirts of Kamptee in Nagpur district.

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) officials said land had been allotted and the Union Home Ministry was set to approve the Rs 190-crore project.

The world-class facility would train future battalions of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF),central and state forces and units from foreign countries,NDMA Vice-Chairperson M Shashidhar Reddy said.

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Spread across 61 hectares in two villages,NIDR will conduct live simulation exercises for a wide range of natural and man-made disasters.

Disaster response requires a different kind of training infrastructure. The institute will become the main training centre for NDRF and state disaster response forces. There will be special focus on search and rescue at collapsed structures and response to chemical,biological,radioactive and nuclear disasters, Reddy said.

He said Nagpur was centrally located and also had other training institutes such as National Civil Defence College and National Fire Service College. Nagpur will become a hub for disaster training, Reddy said.

He said the institute would bolster the global disaster management standing of India. We received expressions of interest from several SAARC countries. India has acquired a special place in Southeast Asia because of our response to a wide range of disasters, said Reddy.

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NIDR will be a residential facility that will train 50 individuals at a time. The best Indian and international experts will be recruited to conduct training. NIDR has been modelled on the best institutes in Europe and the US. NDMA officials of the rank of inspector-general and above will also be a part of the faculty, said Alok Avasthy,Commandant,5th Battalion,NDRF,who has been following up with the state government on behalf of NDMA.

On October 4,we had a meeting with Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. We have sent an EFC (expenditure finance committee) note to the Home Ministry for approval. Once land is handed over,we hope to lay the foundation stone by the year end, he said.

The state government expects to formally hand over the land post-Diwali.

The 18 acres initially offered to the central government were found to belong to the Army. So we found an adjoining plot divided in two survey numbers 36 hectares are in Suradevi village,25 in Waregaon. Payment has been made and the Suradevi plot has been handed over. Work on the Waregaon plot will be completed immediately after the Diwali holidays, said Nagpur Collector Saurabh Rao.