<p>Local police personnel are the first to reach any disaster site, but there is no clarity about their role in such a scenario, a government-sponsored study has said.<br /><br />Citing the example of Karnataka, where there is no official document that indicates a specific role given to the police, it has suggested that local police should be given specialised training in disaster management.<br /><br />The study titled Role of Police in Disaster Management also suggested that the disaster management acts and policies, police acts and police manuals should be amended to include disaster management as "one of the core function of police", the way Bihar and Kerala have done.<br /><br />"Police organisation has to see itself as a major player in disaster management. It will continue to have the first responder role given its proximity to the incident site and relationship with the people. Therefore it has to bring about change in its approach. It has to adopt disaster management function as one of its primary functions," the study, authored by Additional Director General of Police (Railway) in Bihar Paras Nath Rai, said.<br /><br />The study is primarily based on Bihar but also covers Karnataka, Odisha and Assam, which are known to have well-established structures and practices.<br /><br />However, the states have no policy document on involving the police. The Assam Police has not started training its police forces.<br /><br />On Karnataka, the study said, "More or less a similar situation exists in this state, too,...discussions with officials, including the secretary (revenue, who is responsible for disaster management) showed that there is no document which can indicate a specific role given to the police. Moreover, the police are not being given any kind of specialised training for responding to natural disasters."<br /><br />State and district-level authorities cannot afford to wait for a response from specialised forces such as the NDRF all the time and on many occasions, it might not be advisable or feasible to deploy armed forces and the NDRF.<br /><br />"Hence, the state police must be prepared as a response force. The local police must be trained, equipped and supported with legislation and logistics so that they find themselves capable to support the victim in the golden hour," it said.</p>
<p>Local police personnel are the first to reach any disaster site, but there is no clarity about their role in such a scenario, a government-sponsored study has said.<br /><br />Citing the example of Karnataka, where there is no official document that indicates a specific role given to the police, it has suggested that local police should be given specialised training in disaster management.<br /><br />The study titled Role of Police in Disaster Management also suggested that the disaster management acts and policies, police acts and police manuals should be amended to include disaster management as "one of the core function of police", the way Bihar and Kerala have done.<br /><br />"Police organisation has to see itself as a major player in disaster management. It will continue to have the first responder role given its proximity to the incident site and relationship with the people. Therefore it has to bring about change in its approach. It has to adopt disaster management function as one of its primary functions," the study, authored by Additional Director General of Police (Railway) in Bihar Paras Nath Rai, said.<br /><br />The study is primarily based on Bihar but also covers Karnataka, Odisha and Assam, which are known to have well-established structures and practices.<br /><br />However, the states have no policy document on involving the police. The Assam Police has not started training its police forces.<br /><br />On Karnataka, the study said, "More or less a similar situation exists in this state, too,...discussions with officials, including the secretary (revenue, who is responsible for disaster management) showed that there is no document which can indicate a specific role given to the police. Moreover, the police are not being given any kind of specialised training for responding to natural disasters."<br /><br />State and district-level authorities cannot afford to wait for a response from specialised forces such as the NDRF all the time and on many occasions, it might not be advisable or feasible to deploy armed forces and the NDRF.<br /><br />"Hence, the state police must be prepared as a response force. The local police must be trained, equipped and supported with legislation and logistics so that they find themselves capable to support the victim in the golden hour," it said.</p>
