Meghalaya’s Disaster Management Authority organizes Table Top Exercise ahead of mock earthquake drill

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaOctober 11, 2023

As part of the State Level Mock Exercise on Earthquake Disaster to be held on the October 12, the Meghalaya State Disaster Management Authority (MSDMA), Revenue & Disaster Management Department, Government of Meghalaya in collaboration with National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India on Tuesday organized a Table Top Exercise for all stakeholders at State Convention Centre, Shillong. The Table Top Exercise was joined virtually by all the districts of the state.

Sanjay Goyal, Commissioner & Secretary, Revenue & Disaster Management Department in his inaugural address, said that the Table Top Exercise is a precursor to the mock exercise and stressed that the entire exercise is to help in familiarizing all the stakeholders of their roles and duties on the day of the mock drill and also in ensuring the successful conduct of the state level mock drill.

He also emphasized that Meghalaya being a very sensitive and vulnerable region to earthquakes, the prime focus apart from other disasters have always been on preparedness towards the eventuality of any earthquake. He urged the stakeholders to take the entire exercise seriously and to test themselves as to how much the state as a whole is prepared in tackling any such eventuality.

The Table Top Exercise was chaired by Shri Sanjay Goyal, Commissioner & Secretary, Revenue & Disaster Management Department in the presence of Maj. Gen Sudhir Bahl (Retd.), Senior Consultant (ME & IRS), NDMA. During the exercise PPT presentations were presented by MSDMA, DDMA (East Khasi Hills District), PWD (R&B) and NDRF. Various stakeholders and other Districts also shared their suggestions regarding different scenarios.

The aims and objectives of a Mock Exercise are to review the Disaster Management plan and associated SOPs of the State and its districts, as well as individual Disaster Management Plans of each Department, highlight the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders as per Incident Response System (IRS), ensure coordination among all Emergency Support Functions (ESFs), generate public awareness and to identify gaps, if any, in the resources, communications, response capabilities, etc.

It may be mentioned that the State Level Mock Exercise on Earthquake Disaster will be held on 12th October 2023 in all the 12 districts of Meghalaya.