VIJAYAWADA: National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and State Disaster Management, along with the department of factories, conducted emergency mock drills (chemical disaster) in 17 districts - on-site in six districts and off-site in 11.
In Visakhapatnam, the exercise was held off-site at HPCL from 9 am to 4 pm. All revenue, transport, SDRF and NDRF officials, along with police officers participated in the mock drill.NDMA member Brigadier BS Thakker, APSDMA managing director Dr BR Ambedkar, director of factories DSC Verma and other officials supervised the mock drill.
Speaking on the occasion, Brigadier BS Thakker said that the mock drill aims to gauge the preparedness of employees in handling emergency crises at chemical factories. A demonstration of how officials should respond during accidents was conducted. “Focus is on minimising loss of life and property and at the same time study the lapses so as to correct them,” he said.
APSDMA managing director Dr BR Ambedkar said that besides natural and man-made disasters, they are now concentrating on chemical disasters. “What precautions need to be taken to avoid disasters in the first place and in case an accident happens, what needs to be done, were explained through these mock exercises,” he said.
Besides creating awareness among officials and people about such disasters, the preparedness of the officials of disaster management and rescue personnel were also assessed, he added.
Demonstrations were also held in Kurnool at Kurnool Government General Hospital, in Kakinada at Coromandel International Limited, and other places across the state, which showcased the swift action of the disaster management personnel including NDRF, SDRF and fire service personnel in handling the crisis and rescuing people and shifting them to relief centres. Vehicular traffic was diverted in view of public convenience.