Four of the State’s districts with high seismic vulnerability along with Dehradun district will experience an earthquake scenario with the ‘tremors’ slated for February 11.
This mock exercise is part of the initiative taken by the State Government with the assistance of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to assess and work on the State’s disaster management and response mechanism in case of an earthquake.
A coordination workshop with officials concerned of the four districts was held hereon Tuesday to prepare for the mock exercise.
Addressing the media, NDMA senior consultant Maj Gen (retd) VK Datta said that the State government with the assistance of NDMA will conduct a mock exercise for seismic disaster management in Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar districts apart from Dehradun.
He said, “The first two hours after a disaster are most crucial in rescue and relief. In general a seismic disaster is followed by a scenario wherein the telephone landlines are severed, mobile phone service is disrupted due to mobile phone towers being damaged and road links are also lost. It is important for all the various agencies involved to know their respective roles in tackling such multi-scenario repercussions of disaster. The purpose of the mock exercise is to assess our preparations for disaster management and identify any gaps in the system which need to be filled. A ‘tremor’ will be announced- though we are not disclosing the time- on February 11 after which the personnel of various government agencies, armed forces, civil defence and others involved will respond to the disaster. There will also be independent observers from the army to assess the preparations and capabilities observed in the mock exercise.”
Regarding early warning system for various disasters, Datta said that there is no pre- warning system to confirm earthquake threat though such systems can be put to use for disasters like tsunami, landslide and avalanches.
Earlier, addressing officials concerned at the workshop, Datta said that the initial hours after a disaster are crucial with State or district authorities have to conduct rescue and relief measures with their own resources as it takes about two hours for help from outside to arrive.
He said, “The incident commandant appointed for disaster management should identify in advance the locations from where rescue and relief operation is to be managed in addition to ensuring the provision of vehicles and helipads. It is important to have adequate facilitation of mobile toilets, drinking water and food for children without which the threat of disease is heightened in disaster affected area.”
Disaster management and rehabilitation secretary Amit Negi told the officials to plan in advance aspects like the number of disaster management team members, volunteers and ambulances while also having the mobile phone number of the officials to enable the incident commander to call the official concerned without delay when required.
The State’s Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre (DMMC) executive director Piyoosh Rautela and officials of SDRF, police and other departments concerned were also among those present at the workshop.