Correspondent
KOHIMA, MARCH 12
A Mega Mock Exercise (MME) will be carried out in Kohima and Dimapur on Thursday at 11.30 am in various locations. Stating this at a press conference held here Wednesday in Kohima, secretary to Home department (RR&DM-NSDMA), T. Ao has informed the public not to panic or be alarmed by the sounds of siren and movement of personnel and ambulances. The official said the MME is being conducted as part of the North East multi-state preparedness campaign of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). He said that similar mock drills will also be carried out in Mokokchung, Zunheboto and Kiphire districts. The recently launched State Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) in the state capital will be utilized fully during the three-hour exercise, he informed, adding, around 200 volunteers will be participating in the MME in Kohima.
NDMA senior specialist (policies & plans), Dr. RK Dave, who will be the official observer of the exercise, said the objective of the MME is to review the adequacy and efficacy of the state disaster management plans and highlight roles and responsibilities of various emergency support functionaries. Pointing out that through the exercise the effective response of authorities in mobilizing resources, working of emergency communications, community response etc. will be evaluated, Dr. Dave said this is to identify gaps in participating organizations in resources such as manpower, equipments and materials, communications and systems. “We will have a stronger plan at the end of the day,” he stated.
The MME is being conducted in replication of a possible Magnitude 8.7 Shillong 1897 earthquake. According to the NDMA, a revisit of the 1897 earthquake in the present day context is likely to present a very damaging scenario due to topography, polarization of population in capital cities and the change in building typology. The NDMA project aims to facilitate capacity building and multi-state coordinated preparedness for effective disaster management.
The Himalayan seismic belt, extending from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh is said to be seismically active region and studies indicate that enough strains have accumulated to generate magnitude 8 or larger earthquakes in the Himalayan region. As per an NDMA MME handout, when and where such an earthquake would occur is not known, therefore the best approach to face such an incidence is to work for building an earthquake resilient society.
The MME is being conducted in all the eight NE states across 16 cities in over 80 locations. Assam, Tripura, Sikkim and Meghalaya have already carried out the exercise on March 10 while Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and the Cachar district of Assam will follow suit on Thursday.
In Kohima, the selected locations for the exercise are Soukhriezie Market (Mao Market), Kitsubozou area, RTO office area, Raziikhrie GHSS and Mission Compound (Kohima Village) with Local Ground (Khouchiezie) as the Staging Area, while in Dimapur, the selected locations include New Market, PWD colony, GHSS Kuda village area, CMO’s office/BSNL office and Hotel Saramati.
