Mock drill on earthquake preparedness conducted across the state

Meghalaya state on Thursday conducted a state-level mock exercise to test the level of preparedness for natural disasters. The exercise was conducted by the Meghalaya State Disaster Management Authority at various locations. The mock drill was conducted to simulate the great earthquake of 1897. It began at 9 am on Thursday and was attended by multiple organizations including State Disaster Response Force, National Disaster Response Force, district authorities, armed forces, paramilitary forces, state police, fire and emergency. Services, NGOs, educational institutions and volunteers were part of the exercise. Chairman of District Disaster Management Authority led this training in East Khasi Hills district. Representatives of the National Disaster Management Authority also participated in this program. Also Read – Nagaland student faces horrific ‘communal’ ragging at NEHU Tura campus But the mock drill led to massive traffic problems in the capital city and many people struggled to reach their offices and other destinations on time. Many localities took to social media to share pictures and videos of heavier than usual traffic in the city. As the district authorities failed to provide any alternative route, people faced massive traffic jams during peak office hours. Also Read – MSDMA conducts state level mock disaster exercise in Meghalaya Ahead of the exercise, Meghalaya State Disaster Management Authority (MSDMA), Department of Revenue and Disaster Management, Government of Meghalaya, in collaboration with National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, had organized an event on Tuesday. Table-top exercise for all stakeholders at State Convention Centre, Shillong. Sanjay Goyal, Commissioner and Secretary, Department of Revenue and Disaster Management, in his inaugural address said that the table-top exercise is a precursor to the mock exercise and emphasized that the entire exercise is to help all the stakeholders familiarize themselves with their roles . Duties on the day of mock drill and also to ensure successful conduct of state level mock drill. He also emphasized that Meghalaya is a very sensitive and vulnerable region to earthquakes, apart from other disasters the main focus has always been on preparedness against any earthquake situation. He urged the stakeholders to take the entire exercise seriously and test themselves as to how prepared the state overall is to deal with any such situation.