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SDRF personnel administer mock treatment on a person during the emergency response drills in Mokokchung.[/caption]
Dimapur, Nov. 21 (EMN): Government departments and agencies in the districts across Nagaland conducted drills on November 21 simulating extreme weather conditions and casualties. The exercise was conducted to test the capability of the government authorities in handling emergencies and minimising loss of lives and property.
Eastern Mirror’s correspondents, and the government publicity agency the department of Information and Public Relations (IPR) gave updates on Thursday detailing the simulated situations and activities that featured in the exercise.
Dimapur
In Dimapur, the drill started with the sounding of sirens from the deputy commissioner’s office and police commissioner’s office at 9:45 am. Immediately, Deputy Commissioner Anoop Kinchi, the “responsible officer” (RO) for the drill, activated the Incident Response System (IRS) and all the officials converged at the official’s office. The official briefed them about severe flooding reported at 22 locations in Dimapur district.
Staging areas and relief camps were set up within half an hour. Resource sections were mobilised at the Nagaland Badminton Stadium, the staging area.
Personnel from the district disaster response forces, Home Guards and Civil Defence, and magistrates, Assam Rifles, and the police were despatched to different affected sites for rescue operations.
The IPR stated that Kinchi congratulated the departments and stakeholders for giving their best for a successful drill. He observed that ‘preparedness makes one think how to react’ when situations demand.
As suggested by observers and officials involved in the exercise, Kinchi spoke about the need for more training events for the community first responders as they are the first sections of the community to respond during emergencies.
Additional Deputy Commissioner V Lovitoly Sema, the incident commander, for the exercise observed that emergencies may occur anytime. Disaster management is all about management of resources, preparedness, response and recovery, she said.
The exercise simulated rescue of 130 persons, 84 being given first aid and shifted to relief camps; 25 injured shifted to hospitals; five disabled persons being rescued, while 16 dead bodies were retrieved and sent to the mortuary at the Dimapur district Hospital.
The IPR stated that the exercise had 18 ambulances, 13 other vehicles, six observers, and 12 magistrates, Sema informed.
During debriefing, observers felt that most of the institutions were not disabled people-friendly, with lack of basic infrastructure coming in the way. They also emphasised on more of such drills for better synergy in the future, before the next monsoon season arrives.
Officials from the logistics and security sections pointed out the need for more handsets to be provided by the NSDMA besides training in the use of RT sets.
Concerns about safety equipments to be issued to personnel working on the ground, including publicity personnel, were also raised during the debriefing.
In Kohima, officials of the Nagaland State Disaster Management said the drill was successful and ‘commendable.’ The state wide emergency preparedness drill was conducted on Thursday in all the districts. Menukhol John, principal secretary for School Education and SCERT, also the ‘responsible officer’ (RO) of the state’s IRS expressed satisfaction for the ‘successful’ exercise.
The official said communication and connectivity were the major challenges. The officials also pointed to the lack of manpower in the NSDMA. John claimed however that ‘the compact team make them understand the job better to act positively.’
Further, he said the traffic conditions are a cause for delay and execution of activities too.
The official expressed satisfaction at the back-up team for successfully carrying out the activities too.
Kuldip Singh, senior specialist for operations at the National Disaster Management Authority was the observer of the exercise. He maintained that rapid urbanisation has taken place in Kohima. On the exercise, he said, “It was carried out in exceptional manner.”
He observed that the state’s authority has made progress. “They’ve done an exceptional job. In case of disaster they will be able to perform very well,” Singh said.
At the debriefing, the observers suggested the need for good communication systems and connectivity; a common alert system for the public; a standardized drill in the first hour of emergency operations, and challenges in coordination activities with the other districts, among other issues.
In Mokokchung, the Nagaland Emergency Preparedness Exercise was conducted at several locations. The additional deputy commissioner of Mokokchung, W Manpai Phom, was the incident commander during the exercise.
The siren was sounded at 10:00 am to signal the start of rescue operations simulating extreme weather condition, with cloudburst resulting in landslides causing damage to buildings.
The rescue operations were concentrated at five locations.
Officials from the district administration, personnel from the SDRF, Assam Rifles, DEF, Fire & Emergency Service, Medical, and NNC, Scout and Guides, Community First Responders from various wards, IRS departments and Care & Support Society, among others assisted in the exercise. It was informed that the exercise concluded by 1:30 pm.
Phom said the drill was conducted successfully with a good and efficient performance from all the participants.
The district disaster management authority of Wokha conducted the drill too during which simulated search and rescue work was undertaken. The SDRF team also conducted rescue operations at Tsumang Lake, demonstrating rescue of people from drowning in large water bodies.
Government officials and more than two hundred personnel participated in the drill.
Later a short briefing was given by Orenthung Lotha, deputy commissioner of Wokha district, at the staging ground. The authorities congratulated the personnel and agencies who participated in the successful conduct of the drill.
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The Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority conducted the Nagaland Emergency Preparedness Exercise at the local ground of Phek. The district disaster management agency of Phek performed the drill at Bethel colony, Jerico-11 colony, Hebron-1 colony, Phek Government College and at the Treasury office.
In Longleng, following the warning bell the rescue and operations team comprising government departments and agencies gathered at the local ground to assist in the rescue operations.
The ‘F’ company of the 44th Assam Rifle at Longleng immediately set up a relief camp and arranged the staging area. After a briefing of the recue and operations team by the incident commander D Robi the additional deputy commissioner of Longleng, teams from the Fire Service, Police and Security Force rushed to the affected locations.
The medical team also rushed to the affected areas along with doctors and nurses with first aid facilities. After rescuing the victims the teams rushed backed to the relief and staging area camp and provided medical facilities to the victims.
The deputy commissioner, the RO, visited the medical and relief camps and interacted with the rescue teams and victims. During the debriefing, the respective officers reported their activities to the RO.
Major SK Kaushik of the 44th Assam Rifles, the observer of the drill, gave a report of the overall situation and performance of the district officials. He spoke also about the lack of manpower, infrastructure, and need for equipments and machineries to effectively respond when real emergencies strikes the district.
In Kiphire too, the Nagaland Emergency Preparedness Exercise was conducted on November 21 in the district headquarter in Kiphire. The drill was organised by the Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority along with the district’s administration. The district’s IRS had incident commanders, operation sections, planning sections, and a logistics section, the IPR stated.
