Disaster mgmt authority holds mock drill on quake readiness

New Delhi, March 28

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority, in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority, conducted a mock exercise to check earthquake preparedness of emergency services in the city, officials said on Thursday.

They said the exercise involved all 11 revenue districts of Delhi. “The mock exercise aimed to test and improve preparedness of the response mechanism, communication systems and coordination between various local authorities and emergency services in the event of an earthquake,” one of the officials said.

Besides representatives of the NCC, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Central Armed Police Forces, senior officials from all stakeholder departments, including the DDMA, Revenue Department, police, health, fire service, Civil Defence, transport, DJB, DMRC and MTNL, attended the meetings, said Sushil Singh, Special CEO, Disaster Management, Delhi.

Another official said that these exercises deal with simulated scenarios of earthquake and consequent secondary disasters.

“Participants are trained on key aspects of disaster management such as the formation of incident response teams, activation of Emergency Operation Centres (EOCs), coordination among various participating agencies, rescue and evacuation, besides medical preparedness,” the official added.