With a dummy Sun temple inundated in artificial flood as the backdrop, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) carried out a rescue and relief exercise at Ramchandi beach in Puri to familiarise disaster response teams with such operations at heritage sites on Wednesday.
The exercise, a part of the ongoing second Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation Disaster Management Exercise (BIMSTEC- DMEx) in the state, aimed at standardisation of protocol and formulation of policy, guidelines for protection of heritage sites during disasters and their conservation post-disaster.
NDRF and Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) units along with rescue teams of five BIMSTEC member nations - India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Srilanka and Nepal - took part in the joint exercise of NDRF and State Government.
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai inaugurated the field exercise and said it will provide a platform for countries to evaluate existing capabilities, share best emergency response practices, improve existing emergency preparedness and strengthen regional response mechanism.