‘Apadha mithra’ volunteers get training for disaster response

Hyderabad: As many as 300 community volunteers are being trained to assist the authorities in rendering assistance during disasters in Nizamabad district. The volunteers, called ‘Apadha Mithra', are being trained for 20 days on how they can assist the authorities.
As part of the training, on Feb 11, the volunteers were taken to the mini tank bund at Raghunathapalli in Nizamabad and were given a demonstration in the use of life boats, life jackets, and how to assist in rescuing people in case of a flood situation.
Additional collector Kiran Kumar said the training for the volunteers would be completed on Feb 22. The ‘Apadha Mithra' volunteers are being trained by the fire services department personnel on the lines of how the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) reacts during disasters. During a mock drill, NDRF personnel demonstrated how to rescue victims during floods.
The 300 community volunteers will be equipped to assist the authorities in carrying out rescue operations in the event of disasters and will be available to volunteer their services when needed.
Such volunteers are also being trained in other districts. The ‘Apadha Mitra Scheme' of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) aims at training one lakh volunteers across the country to help in times of disasters.