Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 13: District administration, Jammu in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and State Disaster Management Authority will conduct a mock exercise to overhaul the preparedness of Government authorities, residents and institutions for tackling the situation in the event of an earthquake and other disasters.
“The underlying idea is to involve and train everybody, especially the residents, as when a disaster-like earthquake, floods, etc actually strikes, it is the local people who help each other first, and aid from other quarters reaches afterwards,” said Maj-Gen (retd) V K Dutta, an NDMA expert.
He was speaking at a coordination conference for tabletop and mock exercises on disaster held here under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner Jammu Ajeet Kumar Sahu.
Mr Sahu exhorted upon all Government functionaries, representatives of the National Disaster Relief Force, private companies, NGOs and people in general to take part in the drill in the larger interest. He apprised the participants about the perception of the disaster and its managements and said the definition of disaster includes not only the events emanating from natural and man-made causes, but even those events which are caused by accident or negligence.
Maj-Gen Dutta said the motive for organising the mock drill was to evaluate the emergency response plan and standard operating procedure of the personnel of the district selected for the exercise.
“While doing so, the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders will also be highlighted,” he said and added that any person willing to contribute in the rescue operation should contact the Deputy Commissioner’s office as he was the coordinating officer, referred to as “Incident Commander” in a disaster management plan.
Power point presentation on the subject was given by Maj Gen Dutta. Different departments also briefed about their preparations and organizational action plan to meet any eventuality.
Civil Defence was asked to activate the emergency sirens during the mock drill.
The meeting was attended by senior officers of police, security forces and civil administration.
Follow our WhatsApp channel