Nagpur:
India's first National Institute of Disaster Response (NIDR), where personnel of National Disaster Response Force, central and state forces and units from foreign countries will be trained, is all set to be established in Maharashtra on the outskirts of Kamptee.
Spread across 61 hectares into two villages in Nagpur, the NIDR will be equipped to conduct live simulation exercises for a wide range of natural and man-made disasters.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will be setting up this institute for which land has been allotted and the Union Home Ministry is in the process of approval of the Rs 190-crore, official sources said.
The world-class facility would eventually train future personnel of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), central and state forces and units from foreign countries, they said.
"Disaster response requires a different kind of training infrastructure. The institute will become the main training centre for NDRF and state disaster response forces.
There will be special focus on search and rescue at collapsed structures and response to chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear disasters," sources added.
Nagpur is centrally located and also houses other training institutes such as National Civil Defence College and National Fire Service College.
"NIDR will be a residential facility that will train 50 individuals at a time. The best Indian and international experts will be the main resource persons to conduct training.
NIDR has been modeled on the best institutes in Europe and the US. The 18 acres initially offered to central government was found to be belonging to the army units which has its presence in Kamptee Cantonment.
Therefore, 36 acres of land in Suradevi village, 25 acre in Waregaon was being allotted to them, sources to Nagpur District Collectorate said.