State level Mock exercise proposed by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in the State of Assam
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has proposed to conduct a state level mock exercise for a hypothetical earthquake event in Assam on November 17 next.
This exercise will be conducted simultaneously in State and all district headquarters of Assam involving all responding agencies and stakeholders.
As a preparatory event to this mock exercise, NDMA in association with Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) conducted an orientation cum coordination conference on Thursday under the chairmanship of Rajiv Kumar Bora, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Assam in the conference hall of the Chief Secretary, Assam.
This state level conference was conducted for working out the detailed modalities and preparation required for the mock exercise.
State level officials, representatives of Indian Army, Indian Air Force, CRPF and NDRF as well as chief executive officers of District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs) participated in it.
Deputy Commissioners and the Superintendent of Police of the districts also participated and interacted with the NDMA representative Major General V K Datta (Rtd) through video conference.
Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, IPS, Additional DGP and Director, Fire & Emergency Service also interacted with the districts for time bound preparation for the exercise.
Fire and Emergency Services and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) along with the Indian Army and National Disaster Response Force will be the prime responding agencies in the proposed mock exercise.
A table top exercise will be held on November 16 and the mock exercise will be conducted on November 17 in the State.
Major General V K Datta (Rtd) informed the participants that this will be the largest mock exercise on earthquake scenario in India ever conducted by NDMA where all 33 districts of Assam will take part.
The mock exercise will be conducted with an objective to review disaster management plans of the State and the districts.
This will also bring role clarity of various stakeholders and responding agencies as well as enhance coordination among them.
Further, this exercise will assess and identify the state of preparedness, existing gaps in resources, manpower and communication to response in such calamities.