New Delhi, Jun 9 (PTI) Delhi Police and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have joined hands to evolve and impart comprehensive disaster management skills at all levels of basic police training, officials said on Thursday.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed by Satyendra Garg, Special Commissioner of Police (Training) and Atul Karwal, DG, NDRF at police headquarters in the presence of Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana, they said.

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According to the police, the partnership aims to disseminate practical knowledge and procedures among police personnel and to make them aware about their role in the event of disaster through certificate course comprising live demonstrations, lectures, workshops and group discussions to imbibe skills of disaster management.

Speaking on the occasion, Asthana underlined the need for a dedicated unit of Delhi Police for disaster management on the lines of State Disaster Response Force as building such a force for Delhi is a necessity.

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"During disasters, police is the first agency to respond and hence there is an urgent need to equip them with the logistical and technical know how of Disaster Management considering last month's horrific fire incident in Mundka and recent incident of rain and storm that saw high winds and uprooting of trees leading to traffic jams in various parts of cities," he said.

"There is a need for training of basic techniques of Disaster management for local police as well and this MoU is an excellent initiative in that direction," he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)