Mock drill in Gurgaon on February 7

By Haryananewswire

CHANDIGARH, FEB 6

A mock drill will be organized in Gurgaon on February 7 to check the level of preparedness to face any disaster like an earthquake in the district and make the general public aware about their role and responsibilities in the event of such a tragedy. A siren will be sounded   at 11 a.m. which would be an indication for occurrence of a symbolic earthquake. This mock drill is being organized by Gurgaon Disaster Management Authority (GDMA) and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).   

          This is the third time that a mock drill on earthquake has been planned in Gurgaon. Eearlier  it had to be postponed due to one or the other reason. This time the mock drill will be conducted at four locations namely Government College Sector 14, Gurgaon, Mini Secretariat near Rajiv Chowk, General Hospital, Gurgaon and Fly over on NH-8 near 32nd mile stone.

For this mock drill, a symbolic earthquake of magnitude 8 on Richter Scale with epicenter in district Mandi of Himachal Pradesh, about 300 kilometers away from Gurgaon has been planned which will symbolically occur at 11 am on February 7. All the people present on the four sites will do duck cover hold, that is, hide themselves under the table or any other furniture or stand in the corner of the room after the first tremor because usually damage is done on occurrence of second or third tremor.

          All the schools have been asked to conduct such exercise on their own in their premises at the same time. The District Education Officer Dr Manoj Kaushik has been directed to convey the message to all schools. Deputy Commissioner Mr P. C. Meena will be overall incharge of this entire exercise. The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) will function  from the meeting hall of mini secretariat in Gurgaon.The Deputy Commissioner P C Meena emphasized on coordination between various agencies and departments involved in rescue operations and said that the agencies should share their equipments and logistics. Joint Commissioner of Police Anil Rao said that the Incident Commanders at all the four locations should involve local people. He directed the concerned police officers to carry all types of rescue equipments like florescent tape for cordoning off the affected area, lights, and public address system on vehicles as well as moveable loud speaker for announcement.