SDRF officials to head rain management teams in Bengaluru: Chief Commissioner Girinath

BENGALURU : A State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) official will head the rain rescue team in each zone and will coordinate with the zonal commissioner, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath said here on Tuesday.

After holding a virtual meeting with officials from Bescom, BWSSB, SDRF, NDRF and other agencies, Girinath said that all divisions should be headed by an SDRF official to supervise works. Also for disaster management, citizen voluntary teams should be identified, made active and the officials should work with them. He also asserted that all staffers working on rain-related damages should make public their names and mobiles numbers. 

The officials must answer calls, visit the flood-ravaged locations from where the complaint would be reported and resolve it, failing which, stern action will be taken, he said. NDRF Director C Gurulingaiah, who was present on the occasion, said that for disaster management, four pump sets, 44 life jackets, notice boards, flood lights, torch, 13 ropes and 33 cutting machines, 33 pump sets and five heavy pumps are being kept ready. The staffers will work in three shifts, and each team will comprise 10-12 staffers. There are also seven rescue vehicles ready for immediate works. 

Girinath said there is a lot of infrastructure which should be used properly and that can be done through coordination among all teams. The Forest Wing of the BBMP will have two more team for working during the night hours to respond to calls, he said. At present, there are 21 teams in total of which 18 work during morning hours and three at night.