Tura, March 20: West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner, Jagdish Chelani, on Thursday informed that earthquake drills are now an integral part of the curriculum for schools and colleges, with increased frequency and activity at the state and district levels.
He mentioned that awareness programs are being conducted in schools to educate children on emergency protocols. Additionally, specific villages are being identified for studies on floods, cyclones, earthquakes, and fire emergencies to enhance community preparedness.
He shared this information on the sidelines of the state level mock exercise on disaster management on Thursday, which was also carried out in West Garo Hills. In Tura, the district headquarters, the simulation involved various critical infrastructure areas including Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) building, St. Xavier’s Secondary School, Tura Supermarket, Deran Gittim and Tura Civil Hospital. The exercise also included simulating a fire at the Dalu petrol pump to test the team’s ability to contain it during a disaster’s aftermath.
Incident stages were set up at the Circuit House in Tura, the relief camp and staging area was set up at the Tura Government College, while a District Emergency Operation Center (DEOC) was activated at the District Disaster Management Authority office to monitor the simulated disaster, which was headed by the DC.
Talking about the state-level mock exercise, he said, “We were able to gather a lot of information about the areas where we can improve and about the areas which would improve our response network as well.”
The mock exercise simulated a devastating 8.3 magnitude earthquake in Shillong followed by a 7.8 magnitude aftershock in Tura.
He attributed the success of Thursday’s exercise to a month of meticulous preparation, and encouraged participants to familiarize themselves with disaster protocols for their own safety and that of others.
Future exercises will be designed to be even more challenging, including simulations of network disruptions, to further test the response capabilities.
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