NEW DELHI: Exhorting the country’s disaster management agencies to conduct systematic analysis after each operation to identify any errors or lacunae and have them rectified, home minister Amit Shah on Saturday told them not to rest until India emerges as a top-notch nation in mitigating and responding to natural disasters.

Speaking at the inaugural segment of a two-day annual conference organised by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) here to discuss capacity building of agencies involved in disaster management, Shah asked officials to lay down a “clear chain of command” for quick and effective response to emergencies.

“This is very important as I have seen a very chaotic situation emerging in absence of this protocol and order of hierarchy,” he said, adding it is a big lacuna in the country’s bureaucratic system that no one pays heed to the other till a formal or official order is issued.

Cautioning that India is prone to multiple disasters, Shah stressed on quickly developing resilience and capabilities to deal with them. He mentioned the frequent forest fires breaking out in hilly areas, saying that it was a growing threat that needed to be responded to effectively.

He said agencies like NDRF should not rest on their past laurels but strive to do better. “It is now the time to work and ensure that India becomes number one country in disaster management. The path to achieve this goal is long but that should be our target. It should be our effort that the world takes note from our best practices and counter-disaster models,” Shah said.

Shah asked NDRF to collaborate with DRDO to develop indigenous equipment to combat disaster not only for Indian agencies but also for neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He urged NDRF to explore the option of enlisting assistance from PSUs and private sector to locally procure disaster relief equipment during exigencies.

He assured the 12,000 personnel-strong force that the government will fulfil all their requirements for modern gadgets, equipment and infrastructure. Shah said disaster management and combat was a “completely neglected” issue before the year 2000 and was taken seriously after the 2001 earthquake in Gujarat ’s Bhuj .

At the event, NDRF director general S N Pradhan said his force will be able to have its presence in virtually every part of the country by August and that they were working to have a women personnel combat component in every unit.

