The State government has decided to provide land for setting up land for the construction of a full-fledged campus of the National Disaster Response Force.
The Disaster Management department has identified 3.2 acre land at Hamidullahnagar in Shamshabad mandal on the city outskirts for setting up the NDRF campus. A file relating to alienation of the land in favour of the NDRF, at a nominal cost, is reported to be in circulation in the Revenue Department and land is likely to be given to the NDRF soon.
The decision was necessitated as the State had to depend on deployment of personnel from the NDRF campus in Mangalagiri of Guntur district in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh in the event of calamities. Though few teams of the disaster response force had been stationed at Sheikpet on the city outskirts, the number of NDRF personnel allocated for the State was only a couple of dozens which would not be sufficient to meet major calamities like recent floods.
“They (the NDRF) is willing to have a permanent set up here with full technological aids and equipment. The authorities are seeking advance position of land for setting up the facility,” a senior official told The Hindu. Accordingly, it was decided to ensure that some extent of land is alienated in their favour for setting up a campus.