Mock Exercise on Earthquakes Conducted at Itanagar Capital Region

 OUR CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: A mock exercise on earthquake scenarios was conducted at various locations in the Itanagar Capital Region on Thursday. A hypothetical earthquake scenario was created during the mock exercise to check the preparedness level of the district and, most importantly, to activate the incident response team (IRT) to tackle disasters and build up the capacity of the district for disaster management as our state lies in Seismic Zone V. The IRT was led by incident commander and additional deputy commissioner Shweta Nagarkoti, who actively supervised the overall operation of the IRT, including rescue operations, logistics, manpower and machinery, food, etc.

Once the siren went off, calls were received by the district emergency operating centre (DEOC), led by the nodal officer and also Itanagar circle officer, Mary Tanyang, to give updates on the disaster and to seek help, and accordingly, the incident response system (IRS) was activated by the team. On being informed about the disaster, extra assistant commissioner Takam Nicholas, who was the planning section chief, prepared the incident action plan (IAP) with the help of IRT. Rescue vehicles were mobilized at the staging site and later sent to various locations for rescue operations, according to staging area manager inspector Yomken Riram.

SDPO Kengo Dirchi, who was the operations section chief, looked after the deployment of the rescue vehicles and the search and rescue operations. Ambulances and fire tenders were put to service as and where required.

A medical aid post was also set up at various locations to respond and provide medical aid to the injured patients under the supervision of nodal officer Dr. Giri Tali. NDMA coordinator Major General (Retd) Sushir Bahl, along with Disaster Management Director Komkar Dulom, visited the incident sites and took stock of the entire situation. Additionally, a relief camp was also set up at Niti Vihar government upper primary school to provide shelter to the victims under the supervision of nodal officer Kago Lod Asha.

Personnel from Arunachal Pradesh Police, Fire & Emergency Services, NDRF, SDRF, CRPF, AAPDA MITRAS, NCC and volunteers participated in the mock exercise. District disaster management officer Moromi Dodum Sonam, who was the liaison officer, said the mock exercise was conducted at several locations including Kingcup Public School, Niti Vihar, office of the Tax & Excise commissioner at C-Sector, Itafort upper primary health centre, Alexander House, Niti Vihar and at Division IV link bridge at F-Sector. Itanagar Capital Region deputy commissioner Talo Potom, who was the responsible officer, informed that such exercises should be carried out often to generate awareness about the various aspects of disasters as well as train people on how to conduct themselves during disasters. Later, the state disaster management authority conducted a debriefing session.

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