Nagaland conducts mega mock drill to test disaster preparedness

KOHIMA — The Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA) on conducted its annual statewide mega mock exercise, simulating an earthquake and fire outbreak scenario on Thursday.

The mock drill — Nagaland Emergency Preparedness Exercise (NEPEx) — was conducted at more than 50 locations, including market areas, schools, colleges, hospitals, and government offices.

In Kohima, the mock drill was conducted at six different locations and lasted for several hours, during which the Emergency Response Team Search and Rescue, along with the first responder team from the community, in collaboration with the District Task Force, carried out the exercise simulating an earthquake of 7.1 magnitude on the Richter scale, with the siren sounding at 9:03 am by the Police Headquarters (PHQ).

Home Commissioner, Abhijit Sinha, and Major General Sudhir Bahl (retd.), senior consultant (ME and IRS), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), visited the staging areas to take stock of the situation and provide necessary observations.

Briefing the media after the exercise at the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), Kohima, Sinha said that this year’s exercise was better than the previous year’s and that new things were learned and put to use each year.

He added that nothing is ever enough in disaster management and that every exercise reveals flaws that must be addressed in order to be better prepared when a disaster strikes. He said that communication is one area that requires more effort.

Though some changes were made in this regard during the last exercise, he said that more training and re-orientation would be required and it would be handled accordingly. He maintained that there is a possibility of normal communication collapsing when a disaster strikes, and therefore, the need to resort to radio or satellite communication.

According to him, in most districts, people are aware of how to respond without creating chaos during a crisis, which will aid the response team in dealing with disasters effectively.

On the occasion, Bahl emphasised the importance of ensuring foolproof communication and bringing all stakeholders on board, including central agencies, in order to provide a cogent response.

He also underscored the significance of raising awareness among the citizens, schoolchildren, and vulnerable population.

Disaster management and preparedness are ongoing processes, and no one can ever achieve perfection, but what matters is the attitude and desire of the people to do better, and that was demonstrated during the exercise, he said.

He expressed satisfaction with the annual mega-mock exercise conducted by the NSDMA.

Sinha informed that a new State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) would be ready in a year or two at Thizama. He added that the location of the facility and the building should not hamper communications even if a disaster strikes.

Lhouchalie Viya, Commissioner and Secretary of NSDMA, informed that the state government has approved the project DPR and issued the work order to the contractors, and the construction of the building (SEOC) is already underway.

Also read: Nagaland evaluates preparedness to handle disaster