Ahead of mock exercise on earthquake disaster, table-top exercise held in Shillong

 SHILLONG: As part of the state-level mock exercise on earthquake disaster to be held on October 12, the Meghalaya State Disaster Management Authority (MSDMA), Revenue & Disaster Management Department, Government of Meghalaya, in collaboration with National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, on Tuesday organized a table-top exercise for all stakeholders at State Convention Centre, Shillong.

Sanjay Goyal, Commissioner & Secretary, Revenue & Disaster Management Department, in his inaugural address, said that the table-top exercise is a precursor to the mock exercise and stressed that the entire exercise is to help in familiarizing all the stakeholders of their roles and duties on the day of the mock drill and also in ensuring the successful conduct of the state-level mock drill. He also emphasized that Meghalaya being a very sensitive and vulnerable region to earthquakes, the prime focus apart from other disasters have always been on preparedness towards the eventuality of any earthquake. He urged the stakeholders to take the entire exercise seriously and to test themselves as to how much the state as a whole is prepared in tackling any such eventuality. The table-top exercise was chaired by Sanjay Goyal, Commissioner & Secretary, Revenue & Disaster Management Department, in the presence of Maj. Gen Sudhir Bahl (retd.), Senior Consultant (ME & IRS), NDMA, stated a press release.

The aims and objectives of a mock exercise are to review the disaster management plan and associated SOPs of the State and its districts, as well as individual Disaster Management Plans of each Department, highlight the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders as per Incident Response System (IRS), ensure coordination among all Emergency Support Functions (ESFs), generate public awareness and to identify gaps, if any, in the resources, communications, response capabilities, etc. The state-level mock exercise on earthquake disaster will be held on October 12 in all the 12 districts of Meghalaya.

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