Being a mountainous country, Bhutan is vulnerable to unforeseen natural disasters such as glacial lake outburst floods, landslides, forest fires, and earthquakes. Considering these imminent threats and the need for effective search and rescue operations, the Home Affairs Ministry and the Royal Bhutan Police inaugurated the newly constructed National Search and Rescue Training Centre at Tashi Gatshel in Chhukha on Tuesday.
The Home Secretary and the Additional Chief of Police attended the inaugural ceremony. The newly constructed structures consist of a multi-purpose hall, a hostel for the trainees, an academic block, an indoor swimming pool, and an officer’s mess.
According to police, during disasters, the first responders are often constrained in conducting search and rescue operations due to a lack of professional competencies and equipment. The Home Affairs Ministry, police, and De-Suung office, therefore, started training the first responders in 2020. Five batches have been trained so far in different locations including Lingmethang in Monggar and Lobesa in Punakha.
“The search and rescue operations have improved a lot compared to ten years ago. We have offered training to nearly two thousand individuals so far. However, the lack of a proper training centre was the greatest challenge we faced. We had to look for places every time. Now, with this training centre fitted with all the required equipment, it will be very convenient,” said Choki Tashi, Deputy Chief Programme Officer of the Department of Local Governance and Disaster Management.
The launch of the centre is aimed at building a pool of professional search and rescue responders, enhance response preparedness for all types of disasters and deploying a minimum of one search and rescue team in every district and Thromde with basic search and rescue equipment.
The training is designed to cover professional courses including mountain, ground, urban, and water Search and Rescue.
Meanwhile, a Memorandum of Understanding for collaboration and cooperation in the overall management and operation of the training centre was also signed between the Home Affairs Ministry and the police.
The construction of the structures started in 2021 and was completed recently. The structures were built by spending Nu 186 M funded by the European Union.
Kinley Dem, Chhukha
Edited by Phub Gyem
