The Directorate of Civil Defence, Govt. of N.C.T. of Delhi, celebrated the Civil Defence Raising Day on 6 December 2018 at Bal Bharati Public School, Parwana Road, Pitampura, New Delhi. Mrs. Tanvi Garg, IAS, Deputy Commissioner (HQs) was the Chief Guest. Other guests who graced the occasion included various DMs/ ADMs/ SDMs/ Tehsildars/ Delhi police officials/ fire officials/ local residents/ school authorities, students, civil defence volunteers, wardens, and so on.
The District Magistrates were received by the Civil Defence Instructors and Senior Wardens of the respective districts with bouquets of flowers, and the Chief Guest was received by Rahul Sudan, the Senior Staff Office, Civil Defence, Delhi. During the welcome speech, Rahul Sudan gave information on the history and activities of Civil Defence in Delhi. The Chief Guest walked through the display of civil defence services like rescue, first-aid, firefighting, welfare, and so on. She also took keen interest in the photo exhibition of civil defence activities.
On the onset, a demonstration on self-defence was given by the women civil defence volunteers. There was also a PT demonstration by both the men and women volunteers. Further, a mock disaster situation was created which the civil defence teams lead by Hari Om Shukla as Incident Commander and Vinay Mathur as Incharge of Warden Post demonstrated to the community members by doing fire fighting, rescuing the surface casualties through emergency methods of rescue, and rendering first aid to the injured. The methods used were Two Hands Seat, Human Crutch, ‘s,’ CPR with AED (Automated External Defibrillator), Fore and AFT, Fireman lift, and improvised methods by blankets and other available items.
They displayed various rescue methods. For 1st floor casualties, methods like selfrescue with jumping sheet, fireman’s lift, sliding stretcher by one ladder by women and sliding stretcher by two ladders by men were used. The 2nd floor casualties were cleared using sliding stretcher on two parallel rope methods. The casualties of 3rd floor to 2nd floor were rescued by cage method, and those of top floor were rescued by flying fox method and self-rescue with the help of descenders from roof. All rescue methods were displayed by the trained civil defence vol unteers with precision and confidence. The audience of more than 3000 invitees and guests cheered the participants and praised their efforts in saving the lives of people trapped/ injured during disasters.
“Wardens are generally knowledgeable and influential people of the locality with aptitude and inclination for public service. They are enlisted and trained to advise, help and guide the community in their areas and generally to serve as the link between the people and the authorities.”
– Dr. Iqbal Singh Jagdeva
Senior Chief Warden, Delhi East District
The Chief Guest distributed the President’s Meritorious medals to Ms. Neelam Kataria, Addl. Chief Warden (lady) South West District, and DGCD DISC (MHA) to Vijay J.V. Thental, Dy. C.W., North District and Ms. Archana, Group Leader, North District. She also handed over the certificates and medals to the winners and runner-up of inter district professional and sports competitions.
On the occasion, a Civil Defence Corps, Delhi (CDCD) Android Mobile App was launched by the Chief Guest which disseminates information on civil defence, disaster management and women safety. The App provides direct calling facilities for emergency numbers, hospitals, civil defence wardens/ offices etc.
Mrs. Garg acknowledged the ‘Nishkal Sewa’ spirit of the civil defence volunteers who performed various duties from time to time. She motivated the civil defence wardens/ volunteers to encourage more and more citizens to join Civil Defence and get them trained so that any kind of disaster can be dealt in effective manner. She asked them to continue working with zeal, enthusiasm and devotion in the service to the nation. The Chief Guest also administered the ‘Environment Pledge’ to all present for planting more trees.
Civil Defence Organization is a second line of defence and a social/ welfare service agency during war-time and emergencies that provides relief to the affected persons/ areas in calamities and disasters, and during major accidents, communal upheaval etc., in peace time. The aims and objectives of Civil Defence are to protect human life and property, to maintain continuity of production, and to keep up the morale of public in general.
In peace time during disasters, terrorist activities, calamities and the likes, Civil Defence Corps provide rescue service, house fire parties, first aid, communication, welfare measure, relief work, transport, training and mobilization of the local help etc. They also perform numerous other social and welfare activities.
Civil Defence’s demonstrations are held in various localities to educate and motivate members of public in Civil Defence measures. First Aid posts are established on various occasions during national festivals such as Republic Day, Independence Day, Haj Centres, religious gatherings etc. Blood donations camps are also organized by the Civil Defence corps from time to time.
