Karnataka   

Home Guards to be modernised

Karwar: The Home Guards in the State will be modernised in the coming days. Its personnel will be provided with sophisticated equipment and they will work in a professional manner, said Jija Hari Singh, Director-General of Police, Home Guards, Civil Defence and Fire Services.

Ms. Singh was addressing a press conference here on Saturday after distributing cash awards and certificates to Home Guards and personnel of the Fire and Emergency Services who had taken part in the rescue operations at Kadwad where landslips had occurred.

Describing the flood and the landslips in Karwar in October as unprecedented, she said that personnel of the departments of Home Guards and Fire and Emergency Services had done their job in a very professional manner. She thanked the media for presenting the work of the rescue teams in a positive way.

She said that the tragedy of that scale, was not anticipated. It was a difficult task for the rescue teams to dig through the earth and recover the 19 bodies caught under the debris. But the Home Guards, police and Army worked in coordination and did the job successfully, she said.

Ms. Singh said that after the Kadwad tragedy, the department realised that it would need more sophisticated equipment to handle such incidents. She said that the departments of Home Guards and Fire and Emergency Services would acquire sophisticated equipment in the coming days. She said that most of these demands had been sent to the Government. She said that the department had also asked for 20 boats which would be used in rescue operations.

Ms. Singh said that she had held a meeting with officials of the Kaiga nuclear power station and discussed the safety measures. She said that mock exercises were being conducted at Kaiga and surrounding areas as a precaution.

The department of Fire and Emergency Services would open six new fire stations in Uttara Kannada district, for which approval had been granted. Ms. Singh said that the department was trying to set up temporary fire stations at taluk headquarters in the district where there was no permanent fire brigade. She said that acquiring land was the main problem while setting up the stations as most of the land belonged to the Forest Department. She said that the department had requested the Deputy Commissioner of Uttara Kannada to allot land as soon as possible.

She added that the Home Guards would be given training in civil defence. The department had identified 3,000 personnel from the Home Guards who were physically fit. They could be absorbed by the police and other departments for routine work such as traffic control and operating computers, which would be mutually beneficial. Superintendent of Police Raman Gupt and Assistant Commissioner Salma Fahim were present.

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