ITANAGAR, 3 Nov: A four-day training programme on incident response system (IRS) for civil service officers, police officers and district disaster management officers, organised by the disaster management (DM) department, in collaboration with the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), New Delhi, concluded at the DK Conventional Hall here on Friday.
Addressing the valedictory function, IGP (Law & Order) Chukhu Apa appealed to the officers to “always be ready to respond in case of any eventuality.”
Describing the IRS as “one of the finest response systems in the world,” he advocated conducting “periodical drills for the members of the incident response teams.”
Stating that “a mistake by a single member may lead to failure of the whole system,” he exhorted all to “remain updated with the responsibility assigned to the designated members.”
He also mentioned the need for regular training of officers and other stakeholders “for better preparedness in future,” and advised the officers to be “innovative during times of disaster and involve local communities, trained aapda mitra volunteers, and community volunteers, as they are the first responders during times of disasters.”
Apa cited the example of the recent glacial lake outburst in Sikkim to highlight the vulnerability that Arunachal faces, “as we have similar geographical features.”
DM Secretary Dani Salu said that “good preparation is paramount in responding to disasters, mainly in hilly regions like Arunachal Pradesh.” Reiterating that the department conducts “numerous mock exercises across the state on earthquake scenario every year,” he said that “these mock exercises are not so smooth, due to which this training is required to meet the high expectation from the disaster managers.”
Salu acknowledged the district administration and the police department “for detailing the participants who will be the first responders and they should be well-versed on IRS.”
Assistant Professor Shekher Chaturvedi advised the participants to “use the IRS whenever the situation arises,” and gave assurance that “the NIDM will always be ready for any assistance in terms of training and capacity building in the field of disaster management.”
DM Director Komkar Dulom commended the officers for participating in the training programme, and acknowledged the resource persons from the NIDM for imparting the training.
DM Deputy Director C Wanglat also spoke.
