Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir to have own disaster response force by September 2020

Mata Vaish Devi shrine in Jammu that attracts lakhs of devotees from across world every year, will get a dedicated in-house disaster response force by September next year, a senior official said on Sunday.

Simrandeep Singh, Chief Executive Officer of Shri Mata Vaish Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB), said that training of board staff who will be first respondents in case of any eventuality has alrey begun at hequarters of 7th battalion of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in Punjab. Nearly 86 lakh pilgrims visited shrine, atop Trikuta hills in Reasi district of Jammu region, last year, highest in last five years.

" six week training of first batch of 25 staff started on May 18 and is almost heing for completion. We are planning to train 180 employees by September next year to prepare a dedicated disaster response force for shrine," Mr Singh said

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He said shrine board and NDRF signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) early this year keeping in mind hilly terrain and need to impart vanced disaster manment training to shrine board staff in batches to keep m in a state of reiness for effectively and promptly responding to any disaster situation.

"All our employees who have 15 to 20 years service left and are fit will undergo this training capsule. y include staff from security, medical and assistance wings, sweepers, receptionists, salesmen and catering providers," he said.

Praising NDRF, Mr Singh said force is t charging any fee for training of shrine board staff to ensure a quick response in wake of any fire incident, earthquake, landslides or any or emergency situation.

To furr augment disaster manment preparedness, CEO said an NDRF team would conduct a comprehensive audit of disaster manment stores set up by board at various locations on track and in Bhawan area so that, wherever required, se are furr replenished and strengned by ding latest ggets and equipment. In March, a team of NDRF conducted a mock exercise on yatra track near Bhawan area in order to analyze and evaluate level of preparedness to most effectively and promptly respond to any emergency situation. shrine board is also planning to set up an emergency operation Centre as part of its disaster preparedness.

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