NDRF team arrives at Silchar

  FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT

 SILCHAR, Jan 5: In the aftermath of the earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale, a team of tiol Disaster Response Force (NDRF) from Guwahati arrived in the town on Monday evening. The team will alyze the condition of the earthquake affected buildings of the district. The early morning earthquake affected and damaged a large number of private and public buildings in the district along with other parts of the Barak valley. A team of 35 trained officials will check and alyze the data, informed Shamim Ahmed Laskar, project officer of District Disaster Magement Authority (DDMA), Cachar.

  Speaking about the earthquake, Laskar said as per the reports, this is the second most powerful tremor the region has ever faced. Apart from public buildings, the two strategically important bridges, Sadarghat Bridge, connecting Silchar with Kumbirgram airport, and a bridge over river Jiri in Silchar-Jiribam road, 45 km away from the town, were severely affected in the quake. The tiol Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is a force constituted for the purpose of specialist response to a threatening disaster situation under the Disaster Magement Act, 2005.

  Two tiol calamities in quick succession in the form of Orissa Super Cyclone (1999) and Gujarat Earthquake (2001) brought about the realization of the need of having a specialist response mechanism at tiol level to effectively respond to disasters. This realization led to the ectment of the DM Act on December 26, 2005. The NDMA was constituted to lay down the policies, plans and guidelines for disaster magement. As on date NDRF is having strength of 10 Bns. Each NDRF Bn consists of 1149 personnel. The Force has gradually emerged as the most visible and vibrant multi–discipliry, multi-skilled, high-tech, stand-alone force capable of dealing with all types of tural and man-made disasters.