Maharashtra plans to expand SDRF for quicker response to disasters

The state is also looking at creating synergies between the disaster response teams and agencies like the home guards and civil defence during any adverse events

To ensure an efficient and speedier response to disasters, the state government is working on expanding the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) by stationing these teams in State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) camps across Maharashtra. This brownfield expansion of the SDRF’s facilities will do away with the need to acquire land to set up these units, which often causes delays in building stations for rescue teams.

People carry a senior citizen on a chair as they wade through rainwater after heavy rainfall causes flood in Chiplun on July 22. (Hindustan Times)

It is also looking at creating synergies between the disaster response teams and agencies like the home guards and civil defence during any adverse events.

After the floods in the Konkan and parts of western Maharashtra, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said that a separate force on lines of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) will be established in all districts and that the SDRF will be strengthened. The state government drew flak for the delay at the beginning of the rescue operations at most of the affected areas. One of the reasons was the delay in reaching the rescue teams to the disaster sites.

Vijay Wadettiwar, minister, relief and rehabilitation, confirmed they were planning to locate SDRF units in SRPF camps. In the first phase, the department is planning to focus on the most affected districts like Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur. It also wants to have two teams for the three districts of Mumbai, Thane and Palghar, added Wadettiwar.

“This proposal will be discussed in the meeting of the state cabinet,” said Wadettiwar, adding that they were also planning to acquire a helicopter for undertaking rescue operations.

Modelled on the lines of the NDRF, which is a specialized force to respond to natural and manmade disasters, the SDRF has a strength of 428 personnel and officers. It has two companies at Nagpur and Dhule.

Officials from the relief and rehabilitation department of the state government said they were planning to establish SDRF units in the existing State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) camps. The SRPF groups—there are 16 groups at 13 locations in Maharashtra—will have a small unit of the disaster relief force, which will be used exclusively for disaster response.

SRPF camps are located at Pune, Daund, Mumbai, Solapur, Navi Mumbai, Kolhapur, Jalna, Nagpur, Dhule, Amravati, Hingoli, Aurangabad and Gondia. The SRPF also has a training centre at Nanvij in Daund. Locating SDRF teams in SRPF camps will do away with the need to acquire land for these facilities.

“There is a strong need to enhance the state’s disaster response capacity,” he urged, pointing to how the frequency of cyclones on the western coast was on the rise, while parts of Konkan, western Maharashtra and Vidarbha were prone to flooding.

The SDRF personnel are drawn from the SRPF. However, the official said that they would have to recruit personnel for the new SDRF units as the reserve police may have little manpower to spare. “The SDRF handles a diverse range of challenges like chemical disasters, civil disasters and building collapses, which requires a different level of qualifications and training,” he explained, adding that this staff will have to be recruited afresh.

“The idea is to have more bases than we have today for an immediate response (to disasters),” said Aseem Kumar Gupta, principal secretary, relief and rehabilitation department, adding that the SRPF idea was among the options on the table. The integration between the SRPF and SDRF was being discussed and the state is also looking at synergies with the home guards and civil defence and the creation of disaster response capabilities at the local level.

The NDRF has a battalion consisting of around 1,149 people stationed at Sudumbare at Talegaon near Pune to cover Maharashtra and Goa. It has stationed three teams consisting of 45 men each, including engineers, technicians, and medical staff, and two sniffer dogs in each at the Andheri sports complex in Mumbai.