'Dignity kits'--containing basic toiletries, a pair of clothes and hygiene items-- sleeping bags, mats, and portable handpumps are some of the latest first response items that will be provided by the NDRF to ensure quick relief to victims of major calamities in the country.
The disaster contingency force has gone in for a first-time mega procurement of items as part of arming itself with goods for the national distaster response reserve (NDRR) that is meant to be provided as the primary survival kit for victims.
This is to sustain themselves during a calamity, much on the lines of international disaster relief protocols.
The National Disaster Response Force(NDRF), in the first go, has decided to procure about 17,000 'dignity kits' for both men and women, 2 lakh synthetic sleeping mats, 75,000 sleeping bags, 1,200 portable handpumps and 4,800 dead body or casualty bags.
"These items are being procured as part of the NDRR protocol. World over, the best disaster response procedures mandate that the victims are provided basic sanitation and surviving items so that they can sustain themselves for some time in the aftermath of a calamity.
"These procurements are being made for the first time," NDRF Director General Sanjay Kumar told PTI.
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As part of the standard 'dignity kit' for women, that will be packed in a plastic bucket, the victims of a disaster like earthquake, flash floods or similar events will be provided a small toothpaste, brush, bathing and washing soaps, 2 pairs of undergarments, towel, oil, comb, 2 pairs of salwar suits of different sizes, nail cutter, mirror, a packet having 10 sanitary pads, anti-septic cream and a mug.
A similar relief packet or 'dignity kit' for men will have similar items except that it will have 2 pairs of 'pyjama-kurta' instead of the women attire, and a shaving pack.
"Till now relief teams used to carry food, water and medicines as part of their first response mechanism to a disaster struck site.
"But, it is very essential to immediately provide these items to a disaster victim that will enable him or her to sustain for sometime till further rehabilitation steps are taken. These items will be procured by us and distributed with the help of local administration where a disaster strikes," the Director General said.
Sleeping mats and bags will also be provided to those people who are shifted to temporary safety shelters when disasters force people to abandon their homes, he said.
The portable handpumps, an NDRF procurement document said, will be used to fetch fresh water from borewells present in the vicinity of a disaster spot and the machines proposed to be procured can draw 17 litres of water in a minute with the help of about 40 strokes.
The force is also procuring thousands of body bags, also called casualty bags, for better transport and ensuring dignity to the dead.
All these items are expected to be procured shortly and they will be distributed amongst the 12 battalions of the force that are based in various parts of the country for quick response, Kumar said.
As per latest data, the force has undertaken over 2,095 operations till now and has evacuated or rescued about 8 lakh disaster/accident affected people besides retrieving over 3,300 bodies.
The NDRF, a federal disaster contingency force raised in 2006 under the Union home ministry, has a strength of over 13,000 personnel with at least four more fresh battalions under consideration of the Centre.