Disaster management, earthquake mock drill conducted

SHILLONG: Following a series of earthquakes that had rocked the state, a mock drill simulating a major earthquake was conducted at the State Central Library premises and the premises of Ferndale Apartments on Saturday.
The mock exercise was part of the three-day training programme on Incident Response System (IRS) for Incident Response Team (IRT) of East Khasi Hills district. The aim of the drill is to put into practice the Incident Response System (IRS) and for assessing the preparedness of the Incident Response Team (IRT) and other stakeholders in case of a disaster.
Speaking to reporters, Deputy Commissioner East Khasi Hills, P.S. Dkhar said, “The mock drill is an ongoing exercise and we will be having similar drills in other places too. There will be a lot to learn from the mock drill and in terms of assisting one another during times of disaster.”
Aimed to make people cautious due to the various incidences of earthquakes and to work more on pragmatic lines, he said, “This mock drill will help us know where we stand and to find out the lacuna. The drill will help us prepare to face future disasters and another call will be made to provide proper training and improve.” After the drill,  a post-exercise analysis was carried out by the Principal Secretary in charge Revenue and Disaster Management, P.W. Ingty and observers of the mock exercise which included W. R. Marbaniang, former DGP, P. Medhi, from Military Hospital,. Streamlet Dkhar and D. Walia from NEHU, and Minimon Laloo, noted writer.
The observers urged all stakeholders to coordinate their efforts, cooperate with each other and be ready with resources to be able to discharge their duties efficiently although some stated that the mock drill was partially successful.
Speaking at the gathering after the assessment of the observers, Dkhar expressed gratitude to the observers for their suggestions.
He said, “Coordination is very important and one must not wait for instructions but to react immediately and promptly and ensure that one is there to help.”
The mock exercise was also participated by SDRF teams and volunteers from the Indian Red Cross, Shillong and Meghalaya Bharat Scout and Guides.