The state level ‘Mock Exercise on Earthquake Disaster’ will be a two day-long preparedness exercise which will be conducted by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in coordination with Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) on Wednesday and Thursday.
This will be the biggest mock exercise in the country where 33 districts will conduct the exercise simultaneously.
This exercise is designed to harness the strengths and capabilities of the emergency responders, district administrations, hospitals, non-governmental organizations etc as they prepare to meet the earthquake catastrophes in the state of Assam which is located in the most vulnerable seismic zone , that is, zone V.
It will also bring role clarity among the responders and create public awareness among the public, various non-governmental organizations and community based organizations.
The initiative is planned by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority in collaboration with NDMA and District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMA) of Assam.
The exercise will be conducted in association with a number of agencies like National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indian Army, Fire & Emergency Services and Civil Defence & Home Guards.
The first day of the events would be a table-top exercise, followed by a major earthquake -simulation drill.
A debriefing session called ‘Hot-wash’ will be conducted on the second day.
Lt General N C Marwah (Retd), Member, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Major General V Datta (Retd) from NDMA will participate and communicate with the districts through video conferencing on Wednesday in the exercise from Government of India.