Hryana govt to conduct mega mock drill on Dec 21

To increase earthquake preparedness capacity of Haryana, the state government has decided to conduct a mega mock exercise in all the districts of the state on December 21, an official said today.
Additional Chief Secretary and Financial Commissioner, Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Keshni Anand Arora directed all the deputy commissioners to make elaborate arrangements for the mega mock drill, in coordination with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), in their respective districts.
Arora was speaking at an orientation conference here for 'State-Level Mega Mock Exercise on Earthquake in Haryana' with all the divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners, municipal commissioners and senior police functionaries through video conferencing organised in the run-up to the event.

She said that wide publicity of this mega mock exercise should be done so as prevent the spread of panic and other misunderstandings among people.
Apart from this, the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) be set up in all the districts and the District Disaster Management Plans (DDMP) be updated for the mock exercise, she further directed.
Arora also directed them to involve all the private hospitals of their districts and set up relief camps.

Speaking on the occasion, Additional Chief Secretary, Home, S S Prasad emphasised the need for a long-term planning for effectively dealing with the disasters.
Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Vijayendra Kumar said that this is for the first time that a state-level mega mock exercise on earthquake preparedness is being simultaneously conducted in all the districts of the state.

Apart from all the concerned departments, representatives of military, paramilitary forces stationed in the districts, NGOs and other stakeholders would participate in the mock exercise, he added.