Key depts take part in Chamba mock exercise

A district-wide mega mock exercise, under the leadership of Deputy Commissioner (DC) Mukesh Repaswal, was held in Chamba on Friday. It simulated the impact of a high-magnitude earthquake and the emergency response to it.

The 9th state-level mega mock exercise, based on a hypothetical earthquake scenario of magnitude 8.0, involved coordinated drills across nine locations in the district.

Key stakeholders including the police, Home Guards, disaster volunteers (Aapda Mitras), NCC, NSS and members of various NGOs actively participated in the preparedness drill. The exercise aimed to strengthen disaster response mechanisms and test inter-agency coordination during emergencies.

As per the simulated scenario issued by the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC), Shimla, a powerful earthquake triggered landslides, fires, and the collapse of buildings and bridges across several subdivisions — including Bharmour, Bhattiyat, Salooni, Chamba, Dalhousie and Pangi.

The District Emergency Operations Centre (DEOC) promptly reported major incidents, such as a landslide near NHPC Dam disrupting communication lines, the collapse of the bridge over Sal Khad, a fire outbreak at Bhuri Singh Museum and structural damage at the Government Millennium Polytechnic Institute.

DC Repaswal supervised the entire mock drill from the DEOC and visited the staging areas to review the ground response. Superintendent of Police Abhishek Yadav acted as Deputy Responsible Officer and Additional District Magistrate Amit Mehra took charge as Incident Commander, overseeing relief and medical camps established at the Baragaah Police Ground.

Emergency response teams equipped with machinery, medical personnel, ambulances and essential rescue gear were quickly mobilised to the incident sites.

The exercise also included simulations at the NHPC Regional Office in Banikhet (Dalhousie), Salooni Bazaar, Civil Hospital in Chowari and Mini Secretariat at Killar in Pangi.