NDMA conducts Table Top Exercise on earthquake, GLOF, cloudbursts in Ladakh

Kargil, Aug 20: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) conducted a J&K-level Table Top Exercise (TTEx) on earthquakes, GLOF, and cloudbursts in Ladakh on Tuesday.

It sought the use of modern technologies like drones and satellite imagery to assess and analyse disaster damage and prepare a planned and effective response.

The exercise was headed by Consultant (ME&IRS), NDMA, Major General (Retd) Sudhir Bahl under the chairmanship of Advisor to LG Ladakh, Pawan Kotwal and Administrative Secretary, Disaster Management, Ladakh, Amit Sharma.

Maj Gen Sudhir Bahl spoke at length about the Incident Response System (IRS) module and the role and functionaries of the Incident Response Team (IRT) which is essential to tackle any unfortunate incident or disaster effectively.

He stressed inter-departmental coordination with other central government agencies like the armed and paramilitary forces in the context of their available resources and support systems for effective management during a disaster.

Maj Gen Bahl shared a detailed presentation highlighting the structured and organised manner of the IRS module including, the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), the role and responsibilities of the task forces, and members of the IRT.

He said effective disaster management preparedness and response were essential to mitigate damages caused by disaster in terms of human and material loss.

Deputy Commissioner and CEO, LAHDC, Kargil, Shrikant Suse joined the Table Top Exercise virtually from Conference Hall, Baroo, Kargil.

The others who virtually attended the TTEx from Kargil include SSP Kargil, Shree Raam R; ADC Kargil, Suhail Ahmed; Principal GDC, Kargil, Amina Qari; Nodal Officer Project Vijayak (BRO), Rohit Arora; CPO Kargil, Abdul Hadi; ACR Kargil, Muhammad Sharief; Chief Controller of Finance Kargil, Iftikhar Hussain; ACD Kargil, Padma Angmo; DFO Kargil, Muhammad Ali; CMO Kargil, Dr Liyaqat Ali, SDMs, EO MC Kargil, Razia Khatoon; Dysp Telecom, Riyaz Ahmad Bhat; HQ to DC Office, Arifa Iqbal and AD DIPR Kargil, Raza Ali.

DC Kargil, ADC Kargil, and HODs of their respective departments from Kargil apprised about the resource availability, requirements, areas of concern, and disaster plan at the meeting.

The Table Top Exercise presented hypothetical earthquake scenarios and deliberated on consequent responses from designated IRT team members, including the Incident Commander, Planning Section Chief, Operation Section Chief, and Logistic Section Chief.

The exercise was conducted as a precursor to the main mock exercise on the earthquake to be held on August 22 in both Leh and Kargil districts to sensitise the stakeholders about the preparedness of response mechanisms at the time of the earthquake.