NDMA organises mock drill to test earthquake readiness in Delhi NCR

The National Disaster Management Authority and the Delhi Disaster Management Authority organised a mock drill on Friday to test earthquake readiness in the National Capital Region, which falls under seismic zone IV, officials said.

The mock drill was held in all 11 district of Delhi and neighbouring NCR areas of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, days after the region was hit by tremors on two consecutive days.

According to Fire Services officials, 55 water tenders were deployed across Delhi as part of the drill.

Some of the areas were the mock drill was held include Municipal Corporation of Delhi school in Kapashera, MCD office in Najafgarh, Vegas Mall in Dwarka, Rao Tularam Memorial Hospital in Jaffarpur Kalan, residential flats in Dwarka Sector-9, Kendriya Vidyalaya in East of Kailash, Jal Vihar in Lajpat Nagar and V3S Mall in Laxmi Nagar, the officials said.

India has been classified into four seismic zones. Zone V is seismically the most active region, while zone II is the least.

The excise aimed at testing and improving the response mechanism, communication system, and coordination between local authorities and emergency services, according to an official statement.

Staging areas were opertionalised to receive responders and a task force was formed to deal with the situation in the aftermath of an earthquake. Relief camps were also activated to cater for the displaced persons.

Brig BS Thakar, the nodal officer from the NDMA for the exercise, emphasized that these drills simulate scenarios of an earthquake and secondary disasters and help train people and officials on key aspects of disaster management such as the formation of response teams, emergency operation centres (EOCs), coordination among various participating agencies, rescue and evacuation besides medical preparedness.

Police and fire fighting personnel, civil defence volunteers, NDRF personnel, Central Armed Police Forces and DDMA officials participated in the drill.

"This exercise will help in filling gaps, ensuring better communication and improving coordination among various stakeholder agencies. It will also generate awareness among the local community and population to be conscious of the vulnerability of the capital," the statement added.