Apada Mitra training session concludes

Eluru: District Jagananna Chedodu scheme, V Prasanna Venkatesh, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Andhra pradesh news said Apada Mitra volunteers, who took part in the training given at awareness programmes on precautions to be taken during calamities should understand them and make them useful to society.

He participated in the concluding programme of the training to the fifth batch of Apada Mitras organised at Social Service Society Training Centre at JVR Nagar under the auspices of APS DMA and APSIR DPR on natural disaster management on Monday.

Collector Venkatesh stated that it is not possible for the government alone to take all measures during disasters like floods and storms, and public participation is essential. Keeping this in mind, Apada mitra volunteer training has been undertaken. In this training, the programmes provided to Apada mitras should be reviewed once. During calamities, Apada mitras should carry out their responsibility fully and protect the people of the affected area from loss of life and property. They want to acquire skill in using the material provided to them in accordance with the guidelines given by the officials of fire fighting and other departments. Disaster Management Organizations stated that Apada mitra training classes will help a lot in identifying the disaster affected areas and providing adequate basic awareness to the people of that area.

Collector Venkatesh said that it would take some time for the National, State Disaster Response Force to reach the disaster areas, while the locally available Apada mitra volunteers would be available to alert the people and provide protection to the disaster areas. So far 251 people from Polavaram, Kukunuru, Velerupadu, Kalidindi, Eluru, Denduluru Ganapavaram, Kaikaluru, Nuziveedu, Pedapadu, Pentapadu and Bhimadolu mandals of Eluru district have been trained as Apada mitra. He said that by taking the trainers to the cyclone affected areas and providing a comprehensive understanding of the actual conditions, training on various topics like natural resources available in villages and panchayats, social resources, social mapping and history of past disasters was done through field visits. He said that the responsibility of Apada Mitra volunteers should be available to the victims during calamities and give them courage.