“Tech, social media are key to mitigating loss during disasters”: OP Singh
In a talk to IIMB students on ‘Disaster Management & Role of NDRF as Indian Response Agency’, former NDRF chief elaborates on the need for capacity building among communities and integration of response teams
26 August, 2020, Bengaluru: “India remains a response-based country when it comes to disaster management,” O.P. Singh (IPS Retd), Former Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh. “The emerging challenges, whether urban flooding or unsafe buildings in cities, are many, but we have a resilient and resourceful population and an established and extensive network of NGOs and social media reach,” he added.
Listing the weakness in the system as lack of institutional participation, lack of integration of response teams and lack of structure for NGOs on the role they can play during disasters, he said during peace time, all these concerns must be addressed on priority. “We must localise preparedness through mock exercises because community is the first respondent.”
He was addressing IIMB students on ‘Disaster Management & Role of NDRF as Indian Response Agency’. His talk was organized by IIM Bangalore’s one-year fulltime Master of Management Studies (Public Policy) – the Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy & Management (PGPPM), today, as part of PGPPM’s event ‘Policy Speaks’, a Public Policy talk series.
On the principles of the response doctrine, Mr. Singh said shared situational awareness is important and so is scalable and flexible operational capacities. “We need an incident response system and the readiness to act by establishing public awareness.”
What sets NDRF apart
Mission-specific preparations, time-specific responses, mobilisation of resources based on realistic analysis of situations and operations based on familiarity of terrain are important, he explained, adding that NDRF has all these attributes. “NDRF is a unique force – it is proactively available to states and responds in the golden hours as it has regional response centres. Delegations from other countries have come to study the NDRF,” he said. “We must be proud of the mobility of this force.”
Elaborating on how technology has helped NDRF in their response, he cited examples from the Jammu & Kashmir floods to the earthquake in Nepal. “India’s urban search and rescue operations in Nepal in 2015 helped enhance the country’s profile in the global community. Of the 15 people rescued alive, 11 were rescued by the NDRF,” he added.
He spoke of signing MoUs with the Navodaya schools for training. “NDRF has done over 2000 mock exercises like airports, Delhi Metro, industrial units, etc. over the last year. When in action, NDRF focuses on how to access the inaccessible, how to win the difficult terrain and how to reach the vulnerable.”
Observing that disaster preparedness is essential to keeping casualties low, he drew from the number of fatalities between the 1999 cyclone in Odisha and the Hudhud cyclone in 2014 to make his point.
Way forward: involve & empower communities
Urging the country to build disaster resilience with minimal impact or social disruption, he said the pandemic has taught us that we must localise preparedness and response by building capacities. Citing the examples of Kerala and Vietnam, he said they had used their local systems very well. Older Persons Associations (OPAs) that exist in villages in Vietnam, he explained, helped minimize the impact of the pandemic. “We must use national capacities to build capacities at the community level. This is a collective imperative.”
About the speaker:
O.P. Singh is an alumnus of St. Xavier’s College, National Defence College and Delhi University, and holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science, MBA in Disaster Management and an M Phil degree from Madras University. He joined the Indian Police Service in 1983.
He retired as Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh. He has also served in various organizations in the Government of India such as the Special Protection Group (PM’s security) and CRPF dealing with issues connected with internal security of the country.
As Chief of NDRF, India’s specialized Response Force, he led major operations in various natural disasters, saving human lives. As an acknowledgement of his efforts to lead from the front in disaster responses, IIT Delhi conducted and published a case study on his leadership and managing change at NDRF in 2016.
He has been awarded with the Indian Police Medal for Gallantry, Indian Police Medal for Distinguished Services, Indian Police Medal for Disaster Response and Indian Police Medal for Meritorious Services. While working in NDRF, he received the Distinguished Leadership Award for Disaster Resilience. He was also conferred with Exceptional Contribution Award-2016 for successfully leading the disaster relief operations during floods in J&K (2014) and Chennai (2015) and earthquake in Nepal (2015), besides revamping security apparatus of major airports in the country.
“Tech, social media are key to mitigating loss during disasters”: OP Singh
In a talk to IIMB students on ‘Disaster Management & Role of NDRF as Indian Response Agency’, former NDRF chief elaborates on the need for capacity building among communities and integration of response teams
26 August, 2020, Bengaluru: “India remains a response-based country when it comes to disaster management,” O.P. Singh (IPS Retd), Former Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh. “The emerging challenges, whether urban flooding or unsafe buildings in cities, are many, but we have a resilient and resourceful population and an established and extensive network of NGOs and social media reach,” he added.
Listing the weakness in the system as lack of institutional participation, lack of integration of response teams and lack of structure for NGOs on the role they can play during disasters, he said during peace time, all these concerns must be addressed on priority. “We must localise preparedness through mock exercises because community is the first respondent.”
He was addressing IIMB students on ‘Disaster Management & Role of NDRF as Indian Response Agency’. His talk was organized by IIM Bangalore’s one-year fulltime Master of Management Studies (Public Policy) – the Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy & Management (PGPPM), today, as part of PGPPM’s event ‘Policy Speaks’, a Public Policy talk series.
On the principles of the response doctrine, Mr. Singh said shared situational awareness is important and so is scalable and flexible operational capacities. “We need an incident response system and the readiness to act by establishing public awareness.”
What sets NDRF apart
Mission-specific preparations, time-specific responses, mobilisation of resources based on realistic analysis of situations and operations based on familiarity of terrain are important, he explained, adding that NDRF has all these attributes. “NDRF is a unique force – it is proactively available to states and responds in the golden hours as it has regional response centres. Delegations from other countries have come to study the NDRF,” he said. “We must be proud of the mobility of this force.”
Elaborating on how technology has helped NDRF in their response, he cited examples from the Jammu & Kashmir floods to the earthquake in Nepal. “India’s urban search and rescue operations in Nepal in 2015 helped enhance the country’s profile in the global community. Of the 15 people rescued alive, 11 were rescued by the NDRF,” he added.
He spoke of signing MoUs with the Navodaya schools for training. “NDRF has done over 2000 mock exercises like airports, Delhi Metro, industrial units, etc. over the last year. When in action, NDRF focuses on how to access the inaccessible, how to win the difficult terrain and how to reach the vulnerable.”
Observing that disaster preparedness is essential to keeping casualties low, he drew from the number of fatalities between the 1999 cyclone in Odisha and the Hudhud cyclone in 2014 to make his point.
Way forward: involve & empower communities
Urging the country to build disaster resilience with minimal impact or social disruption, he said the pandemic has taught us that we must localise preparedness and response by building capacities. Citing the examples of Kerala and Vietnam, he said they had used their local systems very well. Older Persons Associations (OPAs) that exist in villages in Vietnam, he explained, helped minimize the impact of the pandemic. “We must use national capacities to build capacities at the community level. This is a collective imperative.”
About the speaker:
O.P. Singh is an alumnus of St. Xavier’s College, National Defence College and Delhi University, and holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science, MBA in Disaster Management and an M Phil degree from Madras University. He joined the Indian Police Service in 1983.
He retired as Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh. He has also served in various organizations in the Government of India such as the Special Protection Group (PM’s security) and CRPF dealing with issues connected with internal security of the country.
As Chief of NDRF, India’s specialized Response Force, he led major operations in various natural disasters, saving human lives. As an acknowledgement of his efforts to lead from the front in disaster responses, IIT Delhi conducted and published a case study on his leadership and managing change at NDRF in 2016.
He has been awarded with the Indian Police Medal for Gallantry, Indian Police Medal for Distinguished Services, Indian Police Medal for Disaster Response and Indian Police Medal for Meritorious Services. While working in NDRF, he received the Distinguished Leadership Award for Disaster Resilience. He was also conferred with Exceptional Contribution Award-2016 for successfully leading the disaster relief operations during floods in J&K (2014) and Chennai (2015) and earthquake in Nepal (2015), besides revamping security apparatus of major airports in the country.