Tsunami drill in six districts of Odisha

A mock Tsunami drill involving government agencies and response forces was conducted today along the coastal areas of six districts of the state.
The massive drill was organised by the office of the Special Relief Commissioner in collaboration with Indian National Centre for Ocean Information and coordinated by Ministry of Home Affairs and National Disaster Management Authority.
As many as 328 villages of six districts - Balasore, Bhadrakh, Kendrapada, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur and Puri - have been identified as Tsunami-prone in the state, the Special Relief Commissioner of Odisha, B P Sethi, said.
The State Emergency Operations Centre, District Emergency Operation Centre, Block and Urban Administration, response forces -NDRF, ODRAF, Fire Services and Civil Defence - along with defence forces - Indian Navy and Indian Coast-Guard - took part in the exercise.

Sethi said people in the area were informed about the mock drill in advance.
A mock drill such as this one provides an opportunity for disaster management authorities to test their operational lines of communications, emergency response procedures, and promote emergency preparedness, he said.
Similar exercises were also carried out today in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Union Territory of Pondicherry, Sethi added.