“Training Kashmiri Youth on emergency management is vital as they are the first respondents in any disaster situation”, shared by Mr. Sajjad Hussain, District Development Commissioner (DDC) of Bandipoora, J&K while explaining the purpose of the training.

It was first of such training on disaster risk reduction which was called by District Development Commissioner to attend by the more than 100 youth from most vulnerable 10 villages from Bandipoora. Caritas India intervention on Disaster Management Team Task Force Group from 10 villages of Bandipoora were appreciated by the District Development Commissioner during the occasion.

Currently, Caritas India is training more than 400 Kashmiri youth from each village in Kashmir valley on disaster preparedness. As of now around 260 youth has undergone on various preparedness training and conducted mock drill with the help of SDRF team J&K, informed Nutan Sogoria, State Officer, Caritas India.

District Development Commissioner appealed Caritas India and Jammu and Kashmir Association of Social Workers (JKASW) to revise the District Disaster Management Plan (DDMP) plan of Bandipoora district and ensured his full support from the line department.

He encouraged volunteers to participate in Caritas India programs to engage and learn about disaster and preparedness. Further he said, the district disaster department should map the volunteer from each village and prepare a data base to organize more such training with the help of local and national organization.

State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team of J&K conducted mock drill for the youth to educate on evacuation and rescue measures.