PANJIM: The Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services will soon train 350 community volunteers, whose services would be used during the disaster response. The volunteers would be trained under the Central government’s Aapada Mitra Scheme.
Director of Fire and Emergency Services Nitin Raikar said that the training for the first batch of Aapada Mitra and Aapada Sakhi will commence from the first week of April.
He said that the service of volunteers would be used during disaster response, relief and rehabilitation process.
He was speaking at the 34the Annual Inspection Parade held in Panjim on Saturday, by the Fire and Emergency Department to test the operational fitness of the fire personnel for prompt response in times of emergency.
Aapada Mitra Scheme aims to provide the community volunteers with the skills that they would need to undertake basic relief and rescue tasks during emergency situations such as floods, flash-floods and urban flooding.
The Fire and Emergency Department is the nodal authority for implementing the scheme in the State.
Raikar further informed that the department has used technology to give the Disaster Management Cell, the press and any interested stakeholders a ring side view of the day to day incident reporting at the various fire stations across the State of Goa.
