The underwater rescue and retrieval training at IRIDM at Hejjala, off Mysuru Road close to Bengaluru, on April 11, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Ok. MURALI KUMAR
The Indian Railways Institute of Disaster Management (IRIDM) in collaboration with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Rescue Fund (SDRF) is conducting a five-day workshop from April 10 to 14 on specialised training for underwater rescue and retrieval from railways coaches.
The workshop goals to offer sensible training to rescue personnel on how one can undertake advanced underwater rescue operations in case of emergencies equivalent to floods, practice derailments, or accidents involving submerged coaches. The training will focus on equipping rescue personnel with the required abilities and gear to hold out rescues safely and effectively.
V.V.S. Sreenivas, the director of IRIDM stated, “The idea of this course was a recommendation by the higher authorities and ₹7 Crore were allocated for the same. But we could not make much progress for a long time.” The IRIDM Bengaluru campus was commissioned in 2018 and the Zonal Railways procured Ultra Thermic Cutting gear for slicing steel our bodies underwater.
“Our target (during the training) was to rescue 100 bodies in three hours but we have done it in under two hours. This is an encouragement for us to move forward,” he stated. He additional added that the South Western Railways have the gear required for rescue operations however lack the boldness and the experience required to hold out these operations underwater. He stated that the hydraulic units that the South Western Railways had usually are not licensed for underwater use and they’ve requested different departments to ship the gear for the training. “That is why we have consulted with NDRF and SDRF,” he stated.
Jayanat Ramachandran, a professor at IRIDM stated, “Underwater rescue is a challenge. Though the railways have the equipment for cutting, they do not have the facilities for diving. Whereas the NDRF has divers but no expertise in cutting railways coaches. This is a synergic effort between the Railways and the agencies.”
There are about 87 individuals from totally different businesses like NDRF, SDRF, Life Saving Society (Kolkata) and Special Rescue Training Academy (Goa) collaborating on this workshop.
Mr. Sreenivas stated, “We have about 27,500 staff and 15,000 officers. This is a huge number compared to any training institute.” Through partnerships with NDRF and different businesses, the Railways wish to decentralise this course and conduct extra certification programs, he stated.
They carried out varied demonstrations in a man-made lake constructed on the IRIDM premises. The demonstrations included how one can retrieve a physique by doorways, home windows and different openings created with the assistance of slicing gear by divers, underwater slicing of coach with totally different gear and coordination with floor employees, rescuing a physique when the doorways and home windows are locked and half-submerged.
Mr. Sreenivas additionally talked about that the subsequent mission that the IRIDM want to undertake is how one can perform rescue operations when there are hearth accidents.