Pondy govt to form 'Civil Defence Force' to handle disasters

The Puducherry government has drawn up a plan to constitute a dedicated 'Civil Defence Force' to deal with disasters ahead of the arrival of North East monsoon.
Volunteers to be recruited for the purpose would do voluntary service without any honorarium or remuneration, a communication of the Department of Revenue and Disaster Management said.
"Their voluntary services would be utilised during disasters and on other occasions whenever required," it said.
The volunteers would be trained on 'Disaster Management' with the support of National Disaster Response Force and Battalion Arakkonam (Tamil Nadu), the communication said.
The government is gearing up for any emergency like situation and special toll-free phone numbers had been set up to respond to any call for help.

An action plan as to how the departments concerned should act, had also been formulated on the basis of experience during disasters in the past, it said.
Revenue and Industries Minister M O H F Shah Jahan had already held discussions with the officials of the department to draw the road map to meet any exigency during the forthcoming North East monsoon.