Jammu Tawi railway station holds mock drill to assess emergency preparedness

Jammu, Sep 03: A mock drill lasting over half an hour was conducted on Tuesday at Jammu Tawi Railway Station to assess staff alertness and coordination among various agencies in handling emergency situations, officials said.

The joint exercise was conducted by the Railways in close collaboration with teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Government Railway Police from 11.08 am to 11.40 am, Divisional Transportation Manager (DTM), JAT, Prateek Srivastava told PTI.

Srivastava said the drill tested the preparedness of all agencies involved in relief and rescue operations, with a focus on coordination and communication among the rescuers during a train accident response.

An accident scene was created at the railway yard and accordingly the concerned departments and agencies were mobilised to clear the area and evacuate casualties, while a technical team simultaneously worked on to repair and restore the trek.

“This joint drill was conducted to assess staff alertness and their response in case of an accident... we are fully alert to handle any situation,” Divisional Regional Manager Rajiv Singh Slaria said.

Assistant Commandant of NDRF’s 13th battalion Parveen Singh said such exercises are imperative to prepare for real-time scenarios.

“The drill tested the accident response and the synergy among sister agencies for effective coordination to ensure immediate relief to the victims,” he said, adding such type of exercises are being conducted to prepare for any eventuality even as “mock exercises are continuous process at our own locations on regular basis to hone our skills”.