West Bengal to launch Arjun Vahini disaster response force

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday said the state’s new disaster management force, ‘Arjun Vahini’, will become operational in September.

The force is being raised on the lines of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to strengthen disaster response in West Bengal.

Adhikari said the state government decided to set up the force after taking lessons from this year’s Taratala warehouse collapse and the Amphan cyclone disaster of May 2020.

“The Arjun Vahini will be launched in September,” he told reporters after the foundation laying of five brownfield expansion projects of defence PSUs GRSE and Yantra India Limited.

He said the force would be provided with infrastructure and equipment, including vehicles and cameras.

Adhikari said ‘Arjun Vahini’ had been instructed to follow the NDRF in its functions.

“We have seen in the Taratala incident that the NDRF had rescued 22 people from under the rubble, where the Kolkata Police also played a good role (in the search and rescue work),” Adhikari said.

On June 24, the roof and structure of a three-storey warehouse under construction collapsed at Taratala in southwest Kolkata. The accident left 11 people dead and around 19 injured.

Adhikari said Kolkata, as a large city with many illegal constructions, needed an effective disaster management system.

The chief minister said ex-servicemen and Agniveers would be recruited as members of ‘Arjun Vahini’.

“Since we will get the Agniveers only in January next year, we have recruited 200 ex-servicemen from the Sainik Board,” he said.

Of the 200 personnel, 100 will be based in Kolkata, while 50 each will be stationed in the Darjeeling hills and the coastal town of Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas, Adhikari said.

“They will be able to respond quickly with modern equipment in case of any disaster,” he said.

Adhikari also said the previous dispensation had not spent funds provided to the state for disaster management preparedness, adding that his government was utilising them.