NDMA conducts table top exercise on earthquake, cloudburst in Ladakh

Kargil, Aug 20: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) today conducted a UT-level Table Top Exercise (TTEx) on earthquake, GLOF and cloudburst.
The exercise was headed by Consultant (ME&IRS), NDMA, Major General Sudhir Bahl (Retd) under the chairmanship of Advisor to HLG Ladakh, Dr. Pawan Kotwal and Administrative Secretary, Disaster Management, Ladakh, Amit Sharma.
Deputy Commissioner/CEO, LAHDC, Kargil Shrikant Suse joined the Table Top Exercise virtually from Conference Hall, Baroo, Kargil.
Consultant, NDMA, 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 such as Armed and Paramilitary Forces in the context of their available resources and support system for effective management during a disaster.
He shared a detailed powerpoint presentation highlighting the structured and organized manner of the IRS module including, the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), the role and responsibilities of the task forces and members of the Incident Response Team.
The Consultant, NDMA stressed to use modern technologies like drones and satellite imageries to assess and analyze disaster damage and prepare a planned and effective response.
Maj. Gen Sudhir Bahl said effective disaster management preparedness and response are essential to mitigate damages caused by disaster in terms of human and material loss.
DC Kargil, ADC Kargil and HODs of their respective departments from Kargil apprised about the resource availability, requirements, areas of concern, disaster plan etc. to the meeting.
The Table Top Exercise presented hypothetical earthquake scenarios and deliberated on consequent responses from designated IRT team members, including Incident Commander, Planning Section Chief, Operation Section Chief, Logistic Section Chief, and others.
The exercise was conducted as a precursor to the main mock exercise on earthquake to be held on August 22 in both Leh and Kargil districts to sensitize the stakeholders about the preparedness of response mechanisms at the time of earthquake.