The Uttar Pradesh government is working on a roadmap to train locals for prompt rescue and relief operations in the flood prone areas of the state.
The locals in flood prone areas will be trained by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Coast Guard to operate inflatable boats.
The trained locals termed as ‘aapda mitras’ will be given a daily honorarium according to the mandate of the UP labor department for operating these boats during floods.
The state will purchase 804 inflatable boats costing Rs 80 crore for 22 flood prone districts of UP. The tender process for the purchase of inflatable boats will soon be started.
UP Relief Commissioner G S Naveen said an intensive satellite mapping of the state found that 2,412 villages spread over an area of 1,500 sq km in the basins of Ghaghra Saryu, Rapti and Sharda rivers were predominantly flood prone.
In the first phase, 400 boats will be purchased for 6 districts including Ballia, Balrampur, Deoria, Gonda, Gorakhpur and Bhadohi, while in the second, 404 boats will be purchased for the remaining 16 districts.
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The specifications for purchasing these boats will be obtained from the NDMA, NDRF and Coast Guard.