Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal on Friday said that non-occurrence of natural disasters is better, but nature can be very unpredictable and difficult to understand.
“Earthquakes are natural occurrence that can trigger large scale disaster. On one hand, there is loss of life and property, whereas on the other hand, there is also damage to infrastructure such as railways, roads or other. Therefore, people should stay alert and government machinery should be ready and prepared to face any eventuality,” the Chief Minister said during a mock exercise in Faridabad.
The Chief Minister was observing the mock exercise organized by the National Disaster Management Authority under the aegis of earthquake disaster management in Faridabad, Gurugram, Jhajjar and Sonepat districts of Haryana, which falls in the National Capital Region's earthquake potential zone.
He said that the basic purpose of the mock exercise for disaster management is that not only the administrative mechanisms should be alert to deal with all kinds of situations at the time of disaster, but also the people should also be aware of this.
He said that all representatives from different departments also get more skill in the rescue work done during the disaster through the mock exercise.
The Chief Minister also discussed various technological aspects related to rescue from disaster on the spot. Apart from this, he expressed hope that the purpose for which the mock exercise has been organized in different parts of the state will be achieved and the rescue works during any disaster would be completed efficiently.
He clarified that the present government is serious about all round development of the state as well as issues like management of disaster and providing relief. The only goal of the State Government is the larger interest of the people, he added.
The Chief Minister appreciated the role of the employees who participated in the Mock exercise . During the mock exercise in Faridabad, the Fire Service officials rescued the stranded people at the 6th floor of the Secretariat, provided first aid and took them to hospital. Notably, Haryana falls in high seismic zone and therefore, the region is highly vulnerable to earthquakes.
“The mock exercise simulated an earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter Scale with MSK intensity 8 having its epicentre at West of Gurugram along the Jaipur Ridge and the Sohna Fault line. Critical services, like electricity, water and telecommunication got damaged. Mock exercises were conducted in 21 locations across four districts of the state,” an official spokesman informed.
To start with, all occupants of designated buildings conducted the Duck, Cover and Hold activity. Thereafter, the State Emergency Operation Centre and all the concerned District Emergency Operation Centres were activated, he said.
The spokesman said that at the State Emergency Operation Centre, the Chief Secretary DS Dhesi alongwith other senior officers were present to monitor the mock exercise. After initial damage assessment, rescue and relief operations were launched. Manpower and machinery Resources of the district gathered at the ‘Staging Areas’ in all the districts which were further deployed to the incident sites. Rescue teams were formed under guidance of Incident Commanders and dispatched to concerned sites, he said.
He further said that people buried under the rubble were rescued and sent to hospitals after administrating preliminary first aid. Total number of causalities identified in this multi state mock exercise was 34, severely injured 148 and minor injured 178 persons. Telecom services, electricity and water supply were gradually restored by Public Health Engineering and Telecom Operators, he said.
Jhajjar and Faridabad used drones to assess damage to initiate effective response.
Three teams from Army, three teams from NDRF and one team from ITBP were deployed in the districts for assisting in response during the exercise.
Around 36 teams were deployed in the districts for response consisted of district machinery and central agencies, the spokesman said.
After the drill, a post-exercise briefing analysis was carried out, in which all concerned officials took part. Independent observers from Army shared their feedback and suggested ways to further streamline response mechanisms, he added.