Latest news with #NDRF
News18
a day ago
- General
- News18
NDRF to commission cadaver dogs for disaster operations
Agency: PTI New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) will soon press into service its first contingent of cadaver dogs who can sniff out the dead or human remains in a disaster zone, an officer at the agency said. About half a dozen such dogs have been under training at the NDRF battalion bases in Arakkonam in Tamil Nadu and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh for the last few months, they said. To train the special canines, largely from the Belgian Malinois and Labrador breeds, the force has procured a special scent from abroad that smells akin to the odour emitted by a dead body, he said. 'For all these years, the NDRF focused on its mandate of saving lives. Utilising the golden hour of finding life during a disaster has been the guiding principle of the rescuers, and hence finding the dead or mortal remains was not a priority," an NDRF officer told PTI. However, we have seen that the force is also part of operations where NDRF is tasked with retrieving bodies from under the debris, like in the aftermath of a landslide or train or road accident, he said. Finding bodies or human remains is important to give closure to the families and loved ones, he said. Hence, the NDRF, a few months back, embarked on its maiden exercise to train cadaver dogs, the officer said. Another officer said there are hardly any such dogs in the state rescue forces in India, and those who have them, have had a mixed success rate. Their success depends on a lot of factors, including prevailing weather conditions, humidity, snow and the presence of other strong odours in the area of operation. Detection of the dead is harder than the alive, he said. 'Training such dogs is a challenge as it requires a human body or body parts that are not easily available. Hence, a special scent that smells like dead human remains was procured for training the NDRF dogs from abroad," the officer said. The dogs are expected to complete their training by the next month. After that, they will be placed with some specific NDRF battalions out of the total 16 spread across the country, he said. Once deployed, we will get to know about the success rate of such dogs, the officer earlier quoted said. Two cadaver dogs of the Kerala Police were deployed earlier this year in the aftermath of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel collapse in Telangana, leading to the trapping of eight people. The same dogs were also used during the 2024 Wayanad landslides. The NDRF was raised in 2006, and at present, it has a strength of about 18,000 men and women rescuers spread across over 30 regional response centres. PTI NES VN VN VN view comments First Published: July 20, 2025, 16:00 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
NDTV
a day ago
- Politics
- NDTV
Amit Shah Directs Formation Of Central Team For Disaster-Hit Himachal Pradesh
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah directed the formation of a multi-sectoral Central team given the frequency and intensity of natural disasters in Himachal Pradesh, an official said on Sunday. In a recent meeting, HM Shah was briefed about the increase in the frequency and intensity of cloudbursts, flash floods, landslides and torrential rainfall, causing widespread loss of life, damage to infrastructure, livelihoods and environmental degradation. He immediately ordered the constitution of a multi-sectoral Central Team comprising experts from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) Roorkee, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) Pune, a Geologist, and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Indore, the official said. In the wake of floods, flash floods, and landslides during monsoon 2025 in different parts of Himachal Pradesh, the Central government has already deputed an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) in advance, without waiting for their memorandum, for on-the-spot first-hand assessment of the damages, said an official statement. The IMCT is visiting the affected areas of the state from July 18-21, and as many as 13 teams of NDRF are deployed in the State for rescue and relief operations. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Central Government stands firmly with the states in times of disasters without any discrimination, said the statement. In this direction, a high-level committee chaired by HM Shah has already approved an outlay of Rs 2006.40 crore to Himachal Pradesh for recovery and reconstruction in areas affected by disasters like floods, landslides and cloudbursts for 2023, and has also released the first instalment of Rs 451.44 crore on July 7, it said. To support the affected people, the Central government has already released the first instalment of the Central share of Rs 198.80 crore to Himachal Pradesh from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) on June 18. The Central government has also provided all logistical assistance to all states, including Himachal Pradesh, including deployment of requisite National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, Army teams and Air Force support.
The Hindu
a day ago
- Health
- The Hindu
NDRF to commission cadaver dogs for disaster operations
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) will soon press into service its first contingent of cadaver dogs who can sniff out the dead or human remains in a disaster zone, an officer at the agency said. About half a dozen such dogs have been under training at the NDRF battalion bases in Arakkonam in Tamil Nadu and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh for the last few months, they said. 'To train the special canines, largely from the Belgian Malinois and Labrador breeds, the force has procured a special scent from abroad that smells akin to the odour emitted by a dead body,' he said. 'For all these years, the NDRF focused on its mandate of saving lives. Utilising the golden hour of finding life during a disaster has been the guiding principle of the rescuers, and hence finding the dead or mortal remains was not a priority,' an NDRF officer told PTI. 'However, we have seen that the force is also part of operations where NDRF is tasked with retrieving bodies from under the debris, like in the aftermath of a landslide or train or road accident,' he said. 'Finding bodies or human remains is important to give closure to the families and loved ones,' he said. 'Hence, the NDRF, a few months back, embarked on its maiden exercise to train cadaver dogs,' the officer said. Another officer said there are hardly any such dogs in the state rescue forces in India, and those who have them, have had a mixed success rate. 'Their success depends on a lot of factors, including prevailing weather conditions, humidity, snow and the presence of other strong odours in the area of operation. Detection of the dead is harder than the alive,' he said. 'Training such dogs is a challenge as it requires a human body or body parts that are not easily available. Hence, a special scent that smells like dead human remains was procured for training the NDRF dogs from abroad,' the officer said. 'The dogs are expected to complete their training by the next month. After that, they will be placed with some specific NDRF battalions out of the total 16 spread across the country,' he said. 'Once deployed, we will get to know about the success rate of such dogs,' the officer earlier quoted said. Two cadaver dogs of the Kerala Police were deployed earlier this year in the aftermath of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel collapse in Telangana, leading to the trapping of eight people. The same dogs were also used during the 2024 Wayanad landslides. The NDRF was raised in 2006, and at present, it has a strength of about 18,000 men and women rescuers spread across over 30 regional response centres.
News18
a day ago
- General
- News18
NDRF to soon commission cadaver dogs to assist in disaster operations
New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) will soon operationalise its first contingent of cadaver dogs who can sniff out the dead or human remains in a disaster or accident zone, officials in the federal organisation said. About half-a-dozen such dogs are under training at the NDRF battalion bases in Arakkonam in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad for the last few months, they said. For training the special canines, largely from the Belgian Malinois and Labrador breed, the force has procured a special scent from abroad that smells akin to the odour emitted by a dead body, they said. 'For all these years, the NDRF focussed on its mandate of saving lives. Utilising the golden hour of finding life during a disaster has been the guiding principle of the rescuers and hence finding the dead or mortal remains was not a priority," a senior NDRF officer explained to PTI. However, we have seen that the force is also part of operations where NDRF personnel are tasked to retrieve bodies from under the debris like in the aftermath of a landslide or train or road accident, he said. Finding bodies or human remains is important to ensure closure to the families and near and dear ones of the victims, he said. Hence, the NDRF few months back embarked on a maiden exercise to train cadaver dogs, the officer said. A second officer said there are hardly any such dogs in the establishment of state rescue forces in India and those who have them, have had a mixed success rate. The success of such dogs depends on a lot of factors, including prevailing weather conditions, humidity, snow and presence of other strong odours in the area of operation. Detection of the dead is harder than the alive, he said. 'Training such dogs is a challenge as it required a human body or body parts which is not easily available. Hence, a special scent that smells like dead human remains was procured for training the NDRF dogs," the second officer said. The dogs are expected to complete their training by the next month and then they will be placed with some specific NDRF battalions out of the total 16 spread across the country, he said. This was one important canine tool missing in our arsenal. Once deployed, we will get to know about the success rate of such dogs, the first officer said. Two such dogs of the Kerala Police were deployed early this year during the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel collapse in Telangana where eight persons were trapped. These dogs were also used during the Wayanad landslides that took place in 2024. The force was raised in 2006 and at present has a strength of about 18,000 men and women rescuers deployed across the country as part of 16 battalions and over 30 regional response centres. PTI NES NB view comments First Published: July 20, 2025, 16:00 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Hans India
a day ago
- Politics
- Hans India
HM Amit Shah directs formation of Central team on Himachal natural disasters
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah directed the formation of a multi-sectoral Central team given the frequency and intensity of natural disasters in Himachal Pradesh, an official said on Sunday. In a recent meeting, HM Shah was briefed about the increase in the frequency and intensity of cloudbursts, flash floods, landslides and torrential rainfall, causing widespread loss of life, damage to infrastructure, livelihoods and environmental degradation. He immediately ordered the constitution of a multi-sectoral Central Team comprising experts from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) Roorkee, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) Pune, a Geologist, and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Indore, the official said. In the wake of floods, flash floods, and landslides during monsoon 2025 in different parts of Himachal Pradesh, the Central government has already deputed an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) in advance, without waiting for their memorandum, for on-the-spot first-hand assessment of the damages, said an official statement. The IMCT is visiting the affected areas of the state from July 18-21, and as many as 13 teams of NDRF are deployed in the State for rescue and relief operations. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Central Government stands firmly with the states in times of disasters without any discrimination, said the statement. In this direction, a high-level committee chaired by HM Shah has already approved an outlay of Rs 2006.40 crore to Himachal Pradesh for recovery and reconstruction in areas affected by disasters like floods, landslides and cloudbursts for 2023, and has also released the first instalment of Rs 451.44 crore on July 7, it said. To support the affected people, the Central government has already released the first instalment of the Central share of Rs 198.80 crore to Himachal Pradesh from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) on June 18. The Central government has also provided all logistical assistance to all states, including Himachal Pradesh, including deployment of requisite National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, Army teams and Air Force support.
