Kolkata, Sep 1 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday launched “Arjun Vahini” for the purpose of bringing in place an effective disaster management system in the state on lines of the functioning style of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
Launching the new squad, the Chief Minister said that the “Arjun Vahini” will start operations with 200 personnel, of which 100 will be for the state capital of Kolkata, 50 will be for the hills and 50 will be for the cyclone-prone Sundarbans area scattered over the two districts of South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas.
“The head of the squad will be entitled for a monthly allowance of Rs 40,000, while the others in squad will be entitled from Rs 25,000. There will be an annual three per cent increment in their allowances. Since, the men in this squad will work in vulnerable areas in adverse conditions, they will be entitled for compensation of Rs 10 lakh in case of serious injury or death and Rs 5 lakh in case of disability,” Chief Minister Adhikari added at the launch of this new squad.
“The ‘Arjun Vahini’ will be formed mainly from retired soldiers and Agniveers. In the future, this force will be equipped with equipment and technology similar to that of the NDRF,” he said.
The decision for setting up a specialised disaster management squad was taken by the state government after the collapse of an under-construction warehouse at Taratala in Kolkata in June this year taking a toll of 16 lives.
According to Chief Minister Adhikari, the decision was taken so that the state can have its specialised disaster management squad comparable with NDRF.
He also said that although the new squad will start operating with 200 members, in future the number will be increased substantially.
The Chief Minister also accused the previous Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government of neglecting the issue of disaster management and instead concentrated on nurturing corrupt practices in real estate development, which often led to disasters.
“In the pursuit of earning extra money, institutional corruption had been exploited during the previous (Trinamool Congress) regime to illegally construct buildings, houses by encroaching on wetlands. Often building plans were approved without adequate inspections,” he added.
–IANS
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