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Laying the foundation stone for a permanent National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) station at Sudumbare village in Maval tehsil, NDRF Director General OP Singh on Monday said top priority will be dealing with disasters like landslides.
The station will house NDRF’s fifth battalion, which is among its most important setups. The site at Sudumbare, which was allotted to the NDRF in 2009, covers an area of 62.5 acre. Construction on the site is on and six structures have been partially completely till now. A total of 17 buildings will come up on the site comprising offices, administrative blocks, training facilities and housing barracks.
“The fifth battalion is among our most important battalions. It has played important roles in the biggest disasters in recent times, be it the tsunami in Japan, the earthquake in Nepal, the Malin landslide, Chennai floods, Jammu and Kashmir floods or Uttarakhand floods. Once the new base is completed, the entire battalion, which is currently operating from the CRPF facility in Talegaon since its inception in 2006, will shift there,” said Singh.
“The work is being carried out by the Hindustan Steel Construction Limited and we have been told it will be done within two years. We hope they will meet the deadline and we will be able to move here as soon as possible,” added Singh.
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He said the campus will also have a training facility which will provide region-specific training to its personnel. “We will be specialising in landslides because of a lot of these have happened in Maharashtra recently. It will also specialise in dealing with disasters like building collapse, industrial and chemical accidents and those relating to CBRN (Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear) disasters,” said Singh.
SP Selvan, DIG South Zone; Anupam Srivastava, Commandant, 5 BN; Deputy Commandant Sachhidanand Gawade; Moyukh Bhaduri, CMD, HSCL were also present on the occasion.