As part of a capacity building exercise, personnel of the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services Department will have joint exercises across the State with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). The focus will be on relief and rescue operations at disaster sites.
According to police sources, the NDRF Battalion stationed at Arakkonam is drawn from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and has operational jurisdiction over Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The specialised force is equipped and trained to handle all types of disasters and is capable of reaching any scene of disturbance by air, sea and land in the shortest possible time.
“We will have joint exercises with the NDRF across Tamil Nadu. The first mock drill was held at the temple tank of Kapaleeswarar Temple in Chennai recently.
The exercise will help our personnel to understand the intricacies of managing different types of fire and flood,” Director General of Police and Director, Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services Department, R. Nataraj, said on Tuesday.
He said the NDRF was trained in handling disasters caused by radiological, biological and chemical accidents or attacks.
“Joint exercises will be held in Coimbatore, Tiruchi, Madurai and Nagapattinam among others towns. This will also help the NDRF commandos to understand the topography of various places.”
Mr. Nataraj said a team of TNFRS officers led by Deputy Director T. David Wincent Deva Doss visited the NDRF Battalion at Arakkonam last month to know the infrastructural facilities, training modules and devise joint capacity development programmes.
