This story is from June 25, 2020

Bihar: 15 NDRF teams deployed for flood rescue operations

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been deployed in several districts in the state for flood rescue operations amid Covid-19 pandemic.
Bihar: 15 NDRF teams deployed for flood rescue operations
Representative image
PATNA: The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been deployed in several districts in the state for flood rescue operations amid Covid-19 pandemic.
At least 15 NDRF teams with 35 personnel and four rescue boats each have been deployed in Patna, Kishanganj, Katihar, Araria, Supaul, Darbhanga, Gopalganj, Bettiah, Motihari, Saran. More teams are in the process of getting deployed in Buxar and Nalanda districts.
NDRF 9th battalion commandant Vijay Sinha, when asked, told TOI over phone on Wednesday that this time they would be involved in rescue works in the backdrop of Covid-19 pandemic.
“Hardly seven to eight persons, including NDRF personnel, would be allowed to board a rescue boat in order to maintain social distancing. This figure earlier used to be around 12 during flood rescue operations when the situation was normal,” he said.
Sinha said they had procured large quantity of disposable masks which would be provided to the rescued persons as soon as they board a boat. “We have made arrangements of handwash and soaps with water container so that every rescued person washes his hands and feet before boarding the boat. In addition, this time teams have been deployed in the field for flood rescue with sodium hypo-chloride solution, biological suits, PPE kits, face hood cover for protecting themselves from infection besides having standard equipment for flood rescue and earthquakes,” he said.
The commandant said the disaster management department took the decisions that district administration would screen the rescued persons and regularly sanitize rescue shelters by earmarking a small medical team so that if any symptomatic person is spotted, the team would be dispatched with NDRF personnel on boat for proper action.
“This time, NDRF personnel would go to villages for community training and confidence-building measures and to tell them about the procedures to be followed during rescue amid flood,” Sinha said.
He said NDRF personnel in the field have been instructed not to eat anything cooked and fried from market. “They have been instructed to sanitize vegetables properly and live separately in case anyone of them shows Covid-19 symptoms. Medical team would visit them for keeping their confidence level high,” he said.
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