INS KADAMBA (KARWAR NAVAL BASE): For the first time in Western Naval Command, a tsunami disaster exercise was held on the Ravindranath Tagore beach in Karwar and INS Kadamba Naval Base near Karwar as part of an annual Joint Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR).
The Indian Navy, involving multiple central and state government agencies, led the exercise, to build coordination among these agencies.
Vice Admiral Girish Luthra, who is also the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Naval Command, said, “HADR exercise will bring coordination among all wings, including defence, national disaster response teams, state and private agencies, to handle any disaster.”
He said after Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office, the PMO has directed all the wings to take part in the exercise. For the past few years, defence and civilian bodies have been taking part in this exercise, which has brought a lot of coordination among all wings and a lot of progress has been made in synergy among all these agencies.