Haryana gets ready for mega mock drill for earthquake

Haryana Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Captain Abhimanyu (Express Photo by Jaipal Singh) 

Haryana is getting ready for a mega mock drill on earthquake on Thursday which will even involve six columns of Army. The exercise will be carried out in the eventuality of a hypothetical earthquake occurring “West of Gurugram along Jaipur Ridge and the Sohna Fault Line”.

The main mock exercise will be conducted at 10 am on Thursday when a “massive earthquake” will be depicted by blowing of sirens across the state and thereafter the entire disaster response mechanism will be activated to respond to the various situations emerging out of the depicting earthquake.

According to officials, Haryana falls in the seismic zone II, III and IV. “Haryana is in high risk zone of earthquake due to urbanization and high rise buildings in National Capital Region,” said Captain Abhimanyu, Haryana Revenue and Disaster Management Minister, after a meeting with officers on Tuesday. “The aim of this exercise is not to find faults but to evaluate the preparedness of agencies related to disaster management apart from generating awareness among the general public about safety measures in case of earthquake,” he said. The mega mock exercise would be conducted in coordination with National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

This is first time when an exercise of this magnitude will be conducted in Haryana, Earlier in 2013, a major exercise was conducted by the NDMA involving the Northern state in which Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Chandigarh had participated. However, during that exercise only Panchkula district had taken part from Haryana.

During the upcoming exercise, central agencies like Army, CRPF, NSG and ITBP will also take part apart from the state machinery. Air Force representatives will also be present in the State Emergency Operation Centre and at those districts where the Air Force has air bases to assist in any response required for any “critical causality evacuation, damage assessment survey by aerial reconnaissance and transportation of task forces which ia inaccessible by road”.