Mega mock disaster drill conducted at 77 locations in Delhi

A mega mock drill, involving huge numbers of men and machines, was conducted simultaneously at 77 different locations in the national capital today to check preparedness of the official machinery in the event of a high-magnitude earthquake in the city.
The drill organised by the Delhi government in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority was carried out at places like markets, Metro stations, residential areas, hospitals and office buildings.
The entire operation was observed and monitored through live streaming at the state emergency operation centre. Lt Governor Anil Baijal too reviewed the exercise at the centre.
"The exercise was completed smoothly. But, the gaps if any will be identified by the Army observers who will submit their report about the mock drill and the exercise will be upgraded accordingly," said Manisha Saxena, Secretary (Revenue), Delhi government.

The exercise started with an alert of an earthquake of 7.8 magnitude at 10.30 AM. It saw participation of six companies of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), seven columns of CRPF, two columns of the Army and one column of BSF, besides thousands of personnel drawn from Delhi Police, Fire Services, Civil Defence, MCD, PWD and other departments of the Delhi government.
The exercise held to check inter-agency coordination during disaster situations will be followed up by a full fledged mock drill in October-November in which residents and schools in different areas will also participate, Saxena said.
The communication plan was managed by the Delhi Police and Fire Services control rooms. All dedicated crisis and disaster radio networks were activated and no mobile phones or landlines were used during the drill that lasted for three hours.

"The residents should strictly follow the building bylaws while undertaking construction work because it could save lives during a major earthquake," Saxena added.