Delhi, neighbours check earthquake-readiness

NEW DELHI: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Friday jointly held a mock drill to assess earthquake preparedness of emergency services.
The capital is in zone IV that could witness high seismic activity.
Apart from the 11 districts in the national capital, the mock drill was conducted in a few neighbouring districts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
The exercise took place days after the Delhi Disaster Management Authority held a meeting on the city's preparedness to handle the impact if a strong earthquake were to hit the capital. The meeting was chaired by LG V K Saxena.
Various important locations such as multi-storeyed buildings, commercial hubs, residential areas, malls and public places were chosen for the drill.
DDMA officials said the mock exercise aimed at testing and improving the preparedness of response teams, communication systems and coordination among local authorities and emergency services.
Staging areas were operationalised to receive responders and form a task force to combat the disaster.
In addition, relief camps were also activated to cater to displaced persons.
In the run-up to the drill, a coordination and orientation conference was conducted by the NDMA on March 13, which was attended by DDMA officials, district magistrates and various departments.
NDMA nodal officer Brig BS Thakar said such exercises were important to prepare for potential disasters.
DDMA special CEO Sushil Singh said the participants were trained on key aspects of disaster management such as the formation of incident response teams and activation of emergency operation centres.