NDRF to get 4 more battalions: DG

New Delhi, Aug 5 : The National Disaster Response Force is set to get a shot in the arm, with the government contemplating to add four more battalions, totaling about 4,000 personnel, for better reaction and effective reach during the natural calamities and man-made disasters. NDRF Director General (DG) Sanjay Kumar told mediapersons on the sidelines of an event yesterday that the decision to raise and base the new battalions in four north Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir, NCR, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh is under consideration of the government and final modalities are being worked out. The DG said, "The government wants to induct these new battalions in the NDRF as early as possible. However, the sanctioned time for this is till 2019." The DG said the floods and heavy rains situation in maximum parts of the country, including Gujarat and Rajasthan, is "getting normal" and is "not alarming". "We had unprecedented floods in Gujarat and we deployed the maximum teams there on the requisition of the state government. But things are getting better now. The situation in Rajasthan is also not alarming now, " he said. "We, however, are on the standby and our teams are prepositioned in various parts of the country to undertake a quick relief and rescue task," Mr Kumar said. He added that four teams are still stationed in Rajasthan while 18 are working in Gujarat. "The worst, we assume, is over," he said indicating to disasters emerging out of heavy rains and floods. The DG said the force is trying to cut down response time as much as possible and hence has deployed a number of small regional response teams in various regions of the country for fast response. The force will be also host the annual Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) disaster management exercise in the national capital region in October this year, with the participation of the seven countries, including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan. UNI