Drill for tsunami held along India's eastern coast

A multi-state mock exercise for tackling the situation in case of a tsunami was conducted along the eastern coast of India on Friday, officials said.

Those who participated include the State Disaster Management Authorities of West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry.

The Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) conducted the drill, wherein a scenario of an earthquake of 9.2 magnitude at Nicobar Islands was simulated.

The quake was followed by tsunami waves of over 10 metres high that hit the eastern coast falling in several states, said INCOIS officials.

About 6,500 people were evacuated in Andhra Pradesh by the State Disaster Management Authority and 10th Battalion of NDRF and moved to safe zones in nine coastal districts.

In Odisha, all six coastal districts participated in the drill. In Tamil Nadu's Orurkuppam village, around 630 persons and another 600 from Panithittu and Madakadi villages of Puducherry were evacuated with the help of 4th Battalion of NDRF Arakkonam.

During the drill between 9.30 a.m. and 1.30 p.m., INCOIS generated and issued seven tsunami bulletins to its registered contacts through email, fax, SMSes and Internet.

The drill conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the National Disaster Response Force provided an opportunity for disaster management authorities to operate their lines of communication and standard operating procedures, review their tsunami warning and emergency response procedures and promote emergency preparedness.

INCOIS was yet to receive full information from all participating agencies and was expecting around 8,000 people's active participation in the drill.

Two groups of international observers from Pacific Island countries of 10 members each visited Odisha and Andhra Pradesh to witness the drill.

--IANS

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