Chandigarh, October 5, 2026 (Harminder Singh Nagpal):- A five-day training programme on Disaster Preparedness and Response for the fourth batch of Civil Defence Volunteers began today at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration (MGSIPA), Sector 26, Chandigarh. The programme is being organised by the Chandigarh Disaster Management Authority (CDMA), Chandigarh Administration, in collaboration with MGSIPA, Government of Punjab.
Shri Nishant Kumar Yadav, IAS, Deputy Commissioner-cum-Chairman, District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), UT Chandigarh, attended the programme as the Chief Guest and delivered the inaugural address. He emphasised the importance of preparedness to deal with disasters, practical training and coordinated response at the community level. He motivated the volunteers to make full use of the training and strengthen their knowledge, skills and confidence so that they could effectively assist the community during emergency situations.
During the inaugural session, Ms Khushpreet Kaur, DANICS, SDM (Central), Chandigarh; Shri Rajiv Tiwari, Director Public Relations, Chandigarh Administration; Shri Sanjeev Kohli; Dr Balakrishnan; and Colonel Atul Pandey, Head, Disaster Management Centre, MGSIPA, were present.
Engineer Nitika Singla, Faculty Member, MGSIPA, delivered the welcome address and briefed the participants about the objectives of the programme. Colonel Atul Pandey delivered the keynote address. On the occasion, a video depicting the training journey of 419 Civil Defence Volunteers trained in previous batches was also screened.
The programme, being held from October 5 to 9, 2026, will provide volunteers with theoretical and practical training in Civil Defence, search and rescue, fire safety, Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) emergencies, first aid, Basic Life Support (BLS), Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), triage, crowd and traffic management, disaster response and emergency coordination. The programme will also include field training and exercises based on emergency situations.
The objective of the programme is to strengthen the capacity of Civil Defence Volunteers so that they can work as trained support personnel at the community level and contribute towards making communities safer, better prepared and more capable of recovering from disasters.
