Ladakh pulls up socks to be disaster ready

Leh, Aug 21: Ladakh is pulling up socks to be disaster ready but holding table-top exercise on earthquake, cloud burst and Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF).

According to a press release, Ladakh has been experiencing unprecedented weather conditions of high temperatures as observed over the years, leading to various calamities such as cloud bursts, GLOF, heavy rainfall, and landslides, other than being situated in an earthquake-prone zone.

The UT administration is continuing its efforts to set-up a robust system to deal with any natural calamity and save precious lives. In this regard, a UT level table-top exercise on earthquake, cloud burst and GLOF disasters was organised by Department of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Department, UT Ladakh led by Secretary DMRRR Amit Sharma. The exercise was held in collaboration with National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Government of India, led by Maj Gen Sudhir Bahl.

In his opening remarks, Advisor to LG Ladakh, Dr Pawan Kotwal, highlighted the rising incidence of calamities such as cloudbursts and GLOFs and stated that the geographical conditions of Ladakh, where there are many GLOFs situated in far-flung little villages and the nature of building houses which are mostly mud-brick houses, leave a devastating aftermath. “We have special challenges and therefore we must put our best foot forward to deal with such situations,” stated Dr Kotwal.

Later, Secretary Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Department, UT Ladakh Amit Sharma directed that the EOC must be kept functional 24x7 with the presence of officials of all key Departments, which are always at forefront at the times of disasters including Army, BRO, Mechanical Department, NDRF, UTDRF, Health, IMD, Fire Brigade, etc.

Secretary Amit Sharma further elaborated that a unique day and night mock drill is being organised in the following days to give a close-to-true event experience as most calamities occur at night and an inventory of all kinds of equipment available with various departments is being prepared to press them into action at times of calamities and disasters here in the UT. The TTE sessions were conducted by Major General Sudhir Bhel, Lead Coordinator, NDMA.

DC Leh, Santosh Sukhdeve and DC Kargil Srikant Suse spoke of the areas in the respective districts that are calamity-ready and areas that need improvements and were constantly guided by Exercise Coordinator Major General Sudhir Bhel. During the day-long exercise, Major Bhel took detailed stock of all the concerned departments’ preparedness to act in case of a calamity in an organised manner. In this regard, he directed all the departments to prepare their detailed Disaster Management Plan and submit it to the respective DCs.

Additionally, he also stressed the need to maintain an inventory of machinery and manpower, along with an inventory of gadgets, especially drones which will assist in providing a better understanding of the expanse and nature of the calamity. He also spoke about the need to advertise among citizens to use earthquake alert mechanism available on mobile phones, believing that actions taken in seconds may help save lives towards which Secretary DMRRR Amit Sharma assured to incorporate into routine drill in times to come.

Lt Gen Hitesh Bhalla, Commandant, Fire and Fury Corps spoke of Ladakh’s vulnerability to weather hazards and highlighted the need to take proactive steps and mitigating measures. Further, Col Kirti Pratap Singh, Advisor (Ops & Communication) NDMA stressed on the challenges imposed by the presence of thousands of GLOFs in the Himalayan region. Discussions were also held on the important role of community members as first responders, the need for wireless communication systems, machinery and equipments, and medical facilities, all to be mobilized from the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC).