National Disaster Response Force

The National Disaster Response Force is a specialized force in India, tasked with the responsibility of responding to natural and man-made disasters. It operates under the National Disaster Management Authority of Ministry of Home Affairs and was established in 2006 with the aim of strengthening disaster management capabilities in the country
The responsibility of managing disasters in India is that of the state governments. The ‘Nodal Ministry’ in the central government for management of natural disasters is the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The force also helps in coordinating the response to a disaster that has occurred and that overwhelms the resources of state authorities.
The NDRF is led by a Director General and also has several Inspector Generals and Deputy IGs, who are flag officers and wear badges of rank.

Directors General

The head of the National Disaster Response Force is the Director General who is an Indian Police Service officer with the rank of an Additional Director General of Police. The first holder was R. K. Bhatia who served between 2009-2010. The current director general is Piyush Anand who has been in office since 1 April 2024.

#	Name	From	To	Tenure	Remarks
1	R. K. Bhatia, IPS	6 February 2009	13 May 2010		transferred as DG, ITBP
2	Rajiv, IPS	14 May 2010	7 February 2012		transferred as DG, CISF
3	Prakash Mishra, IPS	5 March 2012	4 July 2012		transferred as DGP, Odisha
4	Dr. P. M. Nair, IPS	24 August 2012	31 May 2013		formerly SDG, CRPF
5	Shri Krishna Chaudhary, IPS	10 July 2013	27 February 2014		transferred as DG, RPF
6	Mahboob Alam, IPS	28 February 2014	31 August 2014		formerly ADG, ITBP
7	O. P. Singh, IPS	1 September 2014	26 September 2016		formerly ADG, CISF; transferred as DG, CISF
8	R. K. Pachnanda, IPS	26 September 2016	6 July 2017		formerly ADG, CISF; transferred as DG, ITBP
9	Sanjay Kumar, IPS	6 July 2017	31 December 2018		formerly DGP, Himachal Pradesh
10	Satya Narayan Pradhan, IPS	22 January 2019	15 November 2021		formerly Joint Secretary, Ministry of DoNER; transferred as DG, NCB
11	Atul Karwal, IPS	15 November 2021	31 March 2024		formerly Director, SVPNPA
12	Piyush Anand, IPS	1 April 2024	Incumbent		formerly SDG, CISF

Composition

National Disaster Response Force is a force of 16 battalions, organised on para-military lines, and composed of persons on deputation from the central armed police forces of India: three Border Security Force, three Central Reserve Police Force, two Central Industrial Security Force, two Indo-Tibetan Border Police, two Sashastra Seema Bal and one of the Assam Rifles. The total strength of each battalion is approximately 1149. Each battalion is capable of providing 18 self-contained specialist search and rescue teams of 45 personnel each including engineers, technicians, electricians, dog squads and medical/paramedics.

Deployment

NDRF battalions are located at 12 different locations in the country based on the vulnerability profile to cut down the response time for their deployment. During the preparedness period fordisaster situations, proactive deployment of these forces is to be carried out by the NDMA in consultation with state authorities. Locations of NDRF Battalions are as follows:

S. No.	NDRF Unit	State	PMF
1	01 Bn NDRF, Guwahati	Assam	BSF
2	02 Bn NDRF, Nadia	West Bengal	BSF
3	03 Bn NDRF, Cuttack	Odisha	CISF
4	04 Bn NDRF, Vellore	Tamil Nadu	CISF
5	05 Bn NDRF, Pune	Maharashtra	CRPF
6	06 Bn NDRF, Vadodara	Gujarat	CRPF
7	07 Bn NDRF, Bhatinda	Punjab	ITBP
8	08 Bn NDRF, Ghaziabad	Uttar Pradesh	ITBP
9	09 Bn NDRF, Patna	Bihar	BSF
10	10 Bn NDRF, Vijayawada	Andhra Pradesh	CRPF
11	11 Bn NDRF, Varanasi	Uttar Pradesh	SSB
12	12 Bn NDRF, Itanagar	Arunachal Pradesh	SSB
13	13 Bn NDRF, Samba,	Jammu and Kashmir	Assam Rifles
14	14 Bn NDRF, Mandi	Himachal Pradesh	ITBP
15	15 Bn NDRF, Haldwani	Uttarakhand	ITBP
16	16 Bn NDRF, Najafgarh	New Delhi	BSF

Mission

The National Disaster Management Authority is tasked with making India safer and more disaster resilient by developing a holistic, proactive, multi-disaster and technology driven strategy for disaster management. The goal of the agency is to use a culture of prevention, mitigation and preparedness to generate a prompt and efficient response at the time of disasters.
NDRF conducts rescue and relief operations, regular and intensive training, familiarization exercises within the area of responsibility of respective NDRF Battalions, and joint exercises.

Disaster response

NDRF has proved its efficacy with its commendable performance during various disasters including the drowning cases, building collapses, landslides, devastating floods and Cyclones. NDRF has saved human lives and retrieved 2760 dead bodies of disaster victims in 73 response operations in the country. Some of the major response operations of NDRF as below:
2007

Flood in Bhavnagar, Gujarat – 3–5 July 2007 – Rescued 291 people; distributed 3,750 food packets
Flood in Rajkot, Gujarat – 3–5 July 2007 – Rescued 291 people; distributed 3,750 food packets

2008

Building collapse in Ahmedabad, Gujarat – 3–5 Feb 2008 – Saved 10 people and recovered six dead bodies
Flood in Lakhimpur, Assam – 14 June – 20 July 2008 – Rescued 2500 civilians
Flood in Dhemaji, Assam – 16 June – 31 July 2008 – Rescued 600 people
Flood in Lakhimpur, Assam – 21 July – 4 August 2008 – Evacuated 2000 people

File:NDRF in Bihar Flood.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Rescue and relief operations during the Kosi breach in Bihar

Kosi breach in Bihar – 20 August 2008 – Saved over 105,000 people including women, children and the elderly; distributed medicines and water bottles
Flood in Lakhimpur, Assam – 31 Aug – 9 September 2008 – Saved 750 people
Flood in Puri, Cuttack, Kendrapara & Jagatsinghpur, Odisha – Sept 2008 – Saved over 1000 people
Flood in Kamrup, Assam – 28 September 2008 – Saved 350 people
Flood in Tiruvarur, Tamil Nadu – 26–30 Nov 2008 – Saved 773 people
Flood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu – 26 Nov – 2 December 2008 – Rescued 1550 people

2009

Cyclone Aila in North 24 Parganas & South 24 Parganas, West Bengal – 25 May – 10 June 2009 – Rescued 2000 people; distribution of medicine to 30,000 victims & food packets to 16,000 homeless victims
Flood in Barpeta, Assam – 27 May 2009 – Saved 300 people
Flood in Junagarh and Porbandar, Gujarat – 16 to 29 July 2009 – Saved 2225 people
Flood in Kasarkode, Kannur and Ernakulam, Kerala – 17–24 July 2009 – Saved 180 people
Flood in Sitamarhi, Bihar – 2–9 Aug 2009 – Rescued 1034 people; distributed medicines to 831 victims
Flood in Howrah & Hooghly, West Bengal – 8–14 Sep 2009 – Rescue 675 people
Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka Floods – Oct 2009 – Saved 10,659 people

2010

Building collapse at Bellary, Karnataka – 27 January 2010 – Saved 20 human lives and recovered 27 dead bodies
Flood in Guwahati, Assam – 20–25 April 2010 – Saved 300 human lives
Cyclone Laila in Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka – 18 May 2010

2011

46 members NDRF team performed search and rescue operation in Onagawa, Miyagi.

2013

Cyclone Phailin in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, etc. – The battalions of the army and navy were used to evacuate people.

2015

NDRF rushed teams to parts of India and Nepal affected by a late April earthquake.
Flood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu – 10 Nov

2018

At least 58 teams of NDRF were deputed in Kerala during a flood in August 2018 making it the highest-ever deployment of NDRF in any single state since its raising. As many as 194 people were rescued and more than 10,000 evacuated.

2020

Gas leak in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh – 7 May 2020
Cyclone Amphan in West Bengal

2021

Glacial outburst flood in Uttarakhand – 7 February 2021
Cyclone Yaas in Odisha and West Bengal

2023

The NDRF teams were deployed in Assam to tackle the annual flood situation. The force carried out rescue operations, evacuating stranded people and providing them with essential relief materials.
NDRF was instrumental in minimising the loss of life during the cyclone that hit Odisha. The force was involved in preemptive evacuations, search and rescue operations, and distribution of relief materials.
The NDRF teams were quick to respond to the earthquake that struck Himachal Pradesh. They carried out search and rescue operations, helping to locate and save trapped individuals.
The NDRF has been actively involved in rescue efforts in Bharuch district, specifically in Nikora Village. The force saved 105 people stranded in low-lying areas and relocated them to safety in collaboration with the civil administration. This operation was particularly challenging due to the water level being above the danger mark.

During the Kosi breach in Bihar in August 2008, which was declared a national calamity by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, NDRF personnel actively engaged themselves in rescue operations and relief duties in districts Supaul, Madhepura, Araria and Purnia. About 780 NDRF personnel trained in flood rescue operations along with 153 high capacity inflatable boats and other rescue equipment were deployed in the flood affected areas. The swift and highly skilled operations of NDRF saved more than 100,000 people trapped in swirling waters of the Koshi River. NDRF personnel distributed relief supplies including drinking water to the stranded flood victims. Medical camps were also established to provide medical care to the flood affected people. Impressed with prompt and efficient response of NDRF, Chief Minister of Bihar Shri Nitish Kumar approached Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singh for a NDRF Bn to be stationed in Bihar and offered of land at Bihta near Patna.
NDRF commendable rescue operations were no less appreciated during the 2008 floods in Odisha, Maharashtra, Kerala and Assam.
On 25 May 2009 Cyclone Aila hit West Bengal. At least 94 people were killed, seven of them in Kolkata, over 4 million people were affected. More than six lakh houses were destroyed completely or damaged partially. NDRF promptly responded to the devastating situation and 600 personnel of NDRF with 84 boats and other rescue equipment started rescue and relief operations at cyclone affected areas of district 24 Pargana North and South of West Bengal. During the operations NDRF personnel rescued around 2000 trapped persons and distributed 50 truckloads of relief materials to the affected people.
On 1 October 2009, in the wake of worsening flood situations in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the governments of both states sent requests for deployment of the force for rescue and relief operations. NDMA mobilised 963 flood rescue trained personnel and 308 inflatable motorised boats from 05 NDRF Bns located at Arakkonam, Pune, Mundali, Greater Noida and Bhatinda and airlifted on 2–3 Oct 2009 in Air Force IL-76 and AN-32 aircraft from nearest Air Force bases and Civil Airports. The rescue personnel deployed in 04 districts of Andhra Pradesh and 04 districts of Karnataka and immediately started rescue and relief operations in the flood affected districts of both the states.
NDRF rescued tens of thousands of persons marooned in the floods in these two states and distributed over 40 quintals of food and drinking water. The medical teams of NDRF administered medical first response and distributed medicines to the flood victims.
On 26 January 2010 a five-storey under-construction residential building collapsed at Bellary, Karnataka with about 50 people trapped under the debris. Three rescue teams of NDRF Bn Pune promptly airlifted to Bellary and NDRF personnel carried out round the clock operation with the help of search & rescue equipment and dogs for nine days. In the operation the NDRF managed to rescue 20 people from under the debris. The last person was rescued on the 9th day. NDRF also retrieved 27 bodies trapped under debris.