Delhi: Quake, chemical hazard mock drills to be held at 55 sites tomorrow

New Delhi, July 31 (IANS) To boost emergency response ahead of the Independence Day celebrations, a disaster management drill will be held at 55 locations in Delhi on Friday, a senior official said on Thursday.

The drill is part of a multi-state integrated disaster management mock drill named "Exercise Suraksha Chakra".

The exercise, across 55 locations in 11 Delhi districts, will simulate disaster scenarios, including earthquakes and industrial and chemical hazards.

The main site for the drill in Delhi will be the office of the Divisional Commissioner, Command and Control Centre -- District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs) headquarter.

On the eve of the exercise, the Delhi government released a list of 55 locations across Delhi-NCR where mock drills will be conducted on Friday.

The drill is being jointly organised by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), DDMAs, and Indian Army's Headquarters of Western Command and Headquarters of Delhi Area.

In addition to Delhi, the mock drill will extend to two districts in Uttar Pradesh, namely Noida and Ghaziabad, and five districts in Haryana, including Gurugram, Faridabad, Palwal, Nuh, and Rewari.

Krishan Kumar, DDMA CEO, said that citizens in Delhi should remain calm and participate wherever possible in the exercise as they might notice increased presence of police, fire, and emergency vehicles throughout the day on Friday.

Earlier, NDMA, DDMA and Indian Army's Western Command and Headquarters of Delhi Area jointly commenced first-of-its-kind multi-state disaster management symposium on Tuesday with focus on earthquake and chemical hazard preparedness across 18 districts of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

"Simulations included a chemical emergency scenario led by Brigadier (retired) Ravinder Gurung and an earthquake response briefing by Brigadier Thakkar. These exercises underscored a key message: preparedness today is the foundation of resilience tomorrow," the NDMA said on social media platform X.

According to the NDMA, more than 200 mock disaster drills have been organised over the past five years across India.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has also suggested holding such exercises occur in every district once every three years.

--IANS

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