Trained personnel from the 10th Battalion of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Vijayawada displayed their search and rescue skills in a mock drill in a simulated ‘Collapsed Structure – Search & Rescue’ operation which was conducted at Hawa Mahal in the city on Thursday.
The team members demonstrated how the NDRF takes up rescue and relief operations during a building collapse. The NDRF teams showcased how they would cut through the walls of the collapsed building, take out people stuck inside and shift them to medical outposts. A large number of students and NCC cadets witnessed the mock exercise as NDRF teams demonstrated how they shift injured people from the top of a building using ropes and shift them to waiting ambulances.
The NDRF personnel also displayed the tools, boats and equipment used during rescue operations.
Speaking after the programme, Deputy Commandant Akhilesh Kumar Chaubey said that the mock drill was organised as part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’. When asked whether there are any proposals to set up an NDRF headquarters or a battalion in Visakhapatnam city, he said that there are no such proposals and that their Regional Response Centre (RCC) stationed in Visakhapatnam with a strength of 160 trained personnel is functioning adequately. The NDRF teams have been attending to all types of calamities in any part of the State and taking up rescue activities effectively, he said.
