KOCHI: The first ever mock drill to test the district administration’s preparedness to deal with chemical accidents was held at Premier Junction near Kalamassery. The drill proved the district is fully equipped to deal with such accidents. On Thursday night the District Disaster Management in association with the rescue agencies conducted the mock drill by replicating a collision between petroleum and sulfuric acid tankers.
The drill, which was held with an aim to strengthen the disaster preparedness of the district, was held during the peak hours from 7 pm to 9 pm on Thursday. “This is the third such mock drill being carried out in the district within a gap of two months. Through the drill, we aim to equip the security agencies with the expertise needed to deal with chemical disasters. The drill also helped the personnel learn the use of advanced safety equipment and to coordinate the working of several agencies during the rescue operations,” said District Collector K Mohammed Y Safirulla.
According to the authorities, the series of accidents which occurred in the district made people aware of the gravity of such incidents. “Besides dealing with the crisis, crowd management is a major area that we need to concentrate upon during an accident. The mock drills have helped us to manage the crowd better during actual events,” said a fire and rescue officer.
“Though many drills have been held in the recent past, this is the first time an acid mock drill was conducted. Since there are a lot of industrial units located in the district, we need to prepare ourselves to deal with such incidents. We are planning to organise such drills in other parts of the city too,” said Anjaly Viswanath, a disaster management officer.