Hyderabad now becomes the second city in the country to have a dedicated Disaster Response Force, after Mumbai. The Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development  (MAUD) on Saturday launched the Enforcement Vigilance Disaster Management (EVDM) with 120 dedicated staff while vehicles will function under Greater Hyderbabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

The need for setting up the EVDM wing arose after 8 workers lost their lives in the under construction building collapse incident at Nanakramguda, said Minister KT Rama Rao. There is a need to increase the disaster response force strength and set up more exclusive teams in different zones for taking up rescue and relief operations immediately during emergency cases, KT Rama Rao added.

After the Disaster Response Force, GHMC will be setting up an exclusive Enforcement wing with 250 to 300 staff. The Minister announced that Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has approved the plan to set up more zones in GHMC for decentralising the administration and extending quality service to citizens. “The initiative will be taken up after due deliberations with elected public representatives,” said KT Rama Rao.

The Ministry of Home Affairs had recently released a report praising the Telangana state police force for its contribution in maintaining law and order in the city as well as the State, pointed out the minister. The DRF will reach out to the people during emergency situations such as flash floods, heavy rains, building collapse, fire mishaps and any other emergency situations, he added.

CCTV Cameras

The MAUD minister also announced that the government has decided to install 10 lakh CCTV cameras across the city under the Safe City initiative. The minister said already four lakh surveillance cameras have been installed in different areas of the city. The initiative has the support of both residents associations and police department, he added.