TEZU, Jan 5: A team of 52 community volunteers on their way to Guwahati (Assam) to receive training in disaster management under the Aapda Mitra Project were given an official sendoff from here in Lohit district on Saturday.
The team will undergo 12 days of training at the Central Training Institute of Civil Defence & Home Guards (CTICDHG) in Guwahati, from 6 January.
DDMO Damchen Norbu, who is leading the team, informed that Lohit has been identified as “one of the 30 most flood-affected districts in the country,” and as such, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has initiated the pilot project “to strengthen the community and enable it to respond in a more systematic and effective manner during floods.”
This is the first batch of community volunteers – all of them males – from the district to undergo disaster management training. After being trained, they will act as human resource and undertake relief and rescue work during disasters.
The Lohit DDMA is also preparing to send the second batch of trainees, consisting of 50 female community volunteers, in the last week of January.
During the sendoff, Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Minister Dr Mohesh Chai advised the volunteers to be attentive during training and learn the basics of flood management and search-and-rescue operation and later assist the district administration as “disaster managers” during natural calamities in Lohit or nearby districts.
Deputy Commissioner Karma Leki advised the trainees to be disciplined and sincere during the training sessions.
“Lohit is a flood-prone district, and such training will help tackle flood-like situations with the involvement of the community itself within the golden hours, without waiting for outside relief and rescue work,” he said.
The CTICDHG is the empanelled training institute identified to train community volunteers under the Aapda Mitra Project of Assam and Arunachal.
