DDMA Kargil conducts rehearsal for mock drill exercise on earthquake disaster

DDMA Kargil conducts rehearsal for mock drill exercise on earthquake disaster

Kargil, August 03, 2023: The District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) Kargil today conducted a rehearsal ahead of the mock drill exercise on earthquake disaster scheduled on August 04.

Earlier in the morning, the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Kargil (ADC), Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Wani, who is also CEO of the DDMA, chaired a meeting at Conference Hall Kargil and gave instructions to all the departments and assigned them the responsibilities to make the rehearsal as well as the mock drill exercise a successful event.

The conference saw the presence of several key officials and stakeholders, including SE PHE/I&FC, Exen Mechanical, Sectorial Heads, HODs, district officers, Police Officers, NDRF teams, officials of MC Kargil, Health, Information, PHE, PDD, Mechanical, R&B, representatives of Indian Army, representatives from NGOs, student volunteers, GREF team, volunteers from Apda Mitra, Baseej Baqitullah Anjuman Sahib Zaman, ISK, IKMT, and others attended the rehearsal exercise and visited the sites.

During the meeting, ADC Wani said that on August 04, siren would ring from the Conference Hall Baroo at 9 a.m. and a disaster would be presumed and all the concerned departments will move to the identified site and take the appropriate measures.

He directed the Information Department to ensure proper coverage of the event and also ensure PA system remain available along with power bank at the identified sites. He also directed AD Tourism to make sure the availability of drone at the spot.

ADC Wani said all the arrangements should be put in place today only so that they do not face any issue on the day of the mock drill exercise.

He also directed the nodal officers of incidents sites to make sure the availability of computers at all spots and in case computer is not available then they should keep laptops ready along with the printer.

The ADC also directed the departments to install tents at the event spots till Thursday evening only. He also interacted with the officials of the GREF and instructed them to be at the spot and ensure the arrangements of tippers for the mock drill.

He also took feedback from different departments to make sure that all arrangements are in place for smooth conduct of the mock drill exercise.

The ADC also directed all the departments to take their responsibilities seriously adding that any dereliction of the duties would be viewed seriously.

He also directed that the presumed disaster situation of the earthquake should be managed effectively so that the concerned officials are prepared to manage the disaster situation.

Later, ADC Kargil along with district officers visited the staging area at Council Secretariat Ground Kurbathnag where he took on spot review of the machines of different kinds like JCBs, Fire Tenders, Ambulances, Water Rankers, Trucks, and directed the concerned officials to make full proof arrangements.

SE PHE/I&FC, Exen Mechanical, DySP Headquarter, DFO, DPO, AD Tourism, Deputy CMO, all District Officers, AO to DC Kargil and other concerned officers and officials of several departments were present. The ADC directed the concerned officials to keep the machines ready and manage the staging area.

Incident sites where the rehearsal took place include Conference Hall, ARTO Office Kargil, Jaffaria Academy of Modern Education, Higher Secondary School Kurbathang Kargil, Landslide/Glof near Chandan Hotel, GNM Hospital Building, Councillor’s Residential Quarter, Relief Camp at RDD Building and Staging Area Camp for responders at Council Secretariat Ground.

The officers have been thoroughly informed and trained on various modules to effectively handle post-earthquake disaster situations. The primary aim of the event is to foster collaboration among all stakeholders to address any potential disaster effectively.

The officers have been informed about agenda of the program, communication strategies, role of stakeholders, risk of glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF), table top exercise and scenario, preparatory activities, mobilisation of response schedule, sequence of actions, aspects to be evaluated, simulation ME, summary of simulation site wise and other aspects related to dealing with the mock drill exercise to mitigate earthquake disaster.

The rehearsal provided a valuable platform for collaborative efforts and proactive planning in preparation for earthquake disasters, aiming to enhance overall disaster response capabilities in the district.

The rehearsal aims to inculcate culture of preparedness among the community and first responders and facilitate governments in reviewing adequacy and efficacy of the disaster management plans and to identify gaps in resources, communications and systems.

The mock drill exercise is aimed to make every department in ready mode and their coordination with other stakeholders in order to tackle any kind of disaster situation.

The mock exercise is aimed to evaluate warning systems, alert protocols, Emergency Operation Center functioning and communications, ability to build situation awareness and allocate resources, identification and aggregation of responders, ability to suitably select sites for Incident Response System (IRS) facilities and activate them, composition of Incident Response Team (IRT), response, search and rescue effort, evacuation/casualty evacuation, integration of all types of responders, hospitals cope with casualties, surge capacity, emergency, re-build, check disaster management reserves held by each Department, Emergency Support Function (ESF) form, inter-departmental teams/groups/task forces including for response, restoration and ability to receive assistance and aid through road and air.