Civil Defence is a primarily volunteer based organisation which responds to immediate emergency conditions and assists in protecting the public and restoring vital services damaged by disasters and depredations. The whole of West Bengal is treated as Civil Defence area. Each district and Kolkata have a large number of trained Civil Defence volunteers, rescue vehicles and modern rescue equipment which are mobilised as soon as their need is felt.

The organisation has acquitted itself well during various recent emergencies like Cyclone ‘Fani,’ Bagri market fire, JagannathGhat Warehouse fire,Vivekanandaand Majerhatflyover collapseand so on. Besides this, Civil Defence personnel and volunteers are regularly deployed for Ganga SagarMela duties, Immersion duties, Monsoon floods and various large congregations.

While the headquarters of the organisation is in Kolkata, each District Magistrate is also designated as the Controller of Civil Defence for the district. For Kolkata area, there is a separate Controller of Civil Defence who is assisted by three Deputy Controllers of Civil Defence for three sub areas of Kolkata area.

The quality of response of Civil Defence personnel and volunteers in times of emergency depends critically on how they prepare during peace times and normal times. Hence, continuous training and retraining is a key focus area of the organisation. The Foundation Course of Civil Defence is conducted in the respective districts and sub areas of Kolkata while the Central Civil Defence Training Institute caters to many specialised courses.

Regular sports, drill and parade are essential part of fitness and character building for the Civil Defence volunteers. I would like to extend my congratulations to the West Bengal Civil Defence lady volunteer contingent for securing the first prize amongst all the volunteer organisations participating in the Republic Day parade, 2019 on Red Road, Kolkata.

Recruitment for various base posts of Civil Defence is expected to start shortly. The organisation will be strengthened with the infusion of this new talent.

This website has been created to provide the much needed interface between the Directorate and the citizens towards a robust implementation of the Civil Defence Act and the Disaster Management Act.It contains essential information on the organisation and its activities. It is being sought to be improved upon to make it interactive.

Here is dedicating the website to all the stakeholders for better implementation of Civil Defence measures.

(B.B. Dash, IPS)
Director General of Civil Defence
West Bengal