Hit by natural disasters like hailstorm and earthquake, teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) conducted several training camps at Godda and Sahibganj to apprise people of the way to protect themselves against the fury of mother nature. The two districts were among the worst affected due to hailstorm and earthquake only aggravated the fear of the people. Interestingly, while the team went to educate people and get a firsthand experience of natural calamity they faced tremors of the earthquake that shook the Himalayan region.
“They were on a routine familiarisation programme it was a coincidence that hailstorm and that earthquake happened at the time. They were on a 15-day tour where they organised camps, prepared reports about the extent of damage due to a natural calamity,” said State Programme Officer of UNDP in Jharkhand, Colonel SK Shrivastava.
Notably, Godda was the worst hit district due to hailstorm with colossal loss to crops, livestock and property reported to the State government that resulted in disbursement of lion’s share of the compensation package to the district decided by the government for areas affected in the natural calamity. Of a total of Rs 12-crore compensation earmarked for affected areas Godda will get around Rs 10-crore, said a source in the Disaster Management Department.
Incidentally, aost parts of the State, including Ranchi, Dhanbad, Dumka, Sahibganj, lohardaga and other particularly bordering Bihar had faced tremors that measured 3.3 on the Richter scale on April 24 and tremors were also felt on Sunday. Reacting to the series of aftershocks the State received on two days 24 hours, the Disaster Management Department has sent one team of the National Disaster Management Force (NDRF) to Sahibganj and Godda as a preemptive measure. “No loss was reported due to earthquake in Sahibganj or Godda,” said Shrivastava.Deputy commissioners of Godda and Sahibganj were not available for their comments.