SHILLONG: To gauge the city’s preparedness for dealing with disasters and to provide assistance to people in the wake of an earthquake a mock drill was conducted in the heart of the city on Saturday.
The mock drill conducted in Khyndailad (Police Bazaar) and Jail Road was a part of the preparatory steps for the “Mega Mock Exercise” to be organized in February 2014.
Conducted by the Deputy Commissioner, who is also the Chairman District Disaster Management Authority, East Khasi Hills the mock drill aimed at testing the effectiveness and preparedness of the incident response system (IRS) in tackling the after-effects of an earthquake.
The conduct of the mock drill assumes significance as Shillong is still known for the 1897 earthquake of magnitude 8.7 in the Richter scale.
During the mock drill, people were seen assisting others as many were being evacuated from MUDA shopping mall and other buildings where the drill was conducted. Several fire tenders, police vehicles and ambulances were seen making the rounds of Police Bazaar during the drill.
The exercise saw participation from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Guwahati, Armed Forces, Paramilitary Forces, task forces from Meghalaya police, Fire and Emergency Service, Civil Defence and Home Guards, all line departments and community volunteers.
Though prior information about the drill was given to the general public and appeals were made for avoiding panic, hundreds were alarmed during the drill.
A security guard who mans an ATM said, “We were very nervous initially as we had no information about this exercise.”
An assessment was surmised after the exercise where certain issues, drawbacks and areas that needed improvement were identified for better coordination in the Mega Mock Drill scheduled for February.
