Table-top exercise on earthquakes, lake outbursts conducted in Ladakh

Jammu, August 21

In a bid to prepare against possible earthquakes, lake outbursts and other natural calamities, a table-top exercise was held in Ladakh, in which senior officials took part.

Ladakh has been experiencing unprecedented weather conditions of high temperatures as observed over the years, leading to various calamities such as cloud bursts, glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), heavy rainfall and landslides, in addition to being situated in an earthquake-prone zone.

The table-top exercise on earthquake, cloud burst and GLOF disasters was organised by the Department of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (DMRRR), UT Ladakh, led by Secretary DMRRR, Amit Sharma, in collaboration with National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Government of India, led by Maj Gen Sudhir Bahl (retd).

Adviser to the Ladakh L-G, Pawan Kotwal, stated that the geographical conditions of Ladakh, where there are many GLOFs situated in far-flung little villages, can leave a devastating aftermath. “We have special challenges and therefore we must put our best foot forward to deal with such situations,” said Kotwal.

During the day-long exercise, Maj Gen Bahl took detailed stock of the preparedness by all departments to act in case of a calamity in an organised manner. In this regard, he directed all the departments to prepare their detailed Disaster Management Plan and submit it to the respective DCs.

Additionally, he also stressed the need to maintain an inventory of machinery and manpower, along with an inventory of gadgets, especially drones, which will assist in providing a better understanding of the expanse and nature of the calamity. He also spoke about the need to aware citizens to use earthquake alert mechanism available on mobile phones, which may help save precious lives.