Multi-State Level Mock Drill Exercises on Earthquake Disaster (NEPEx) with the Home Commissioner of Nagaland, Abhijit Sinha, IAS, was held at Administrative Training Institute Kohima on 15 November.

The Home Commissioner who delivered the keynote address said Nagaland is one of the earthquake-prone states and that this requires the people to take serious measures and plans.

He urged all the departments to take part attentively in the full-scale mock drill exercise in all the districts on 17 November.

He also said people should be aware of Building Bylaws which are enabled to be operational since earthquakes can’t be stopped. He added that construction and buildings are seen densely in areas due to population pressure, mostly in Dimapur and Kohima, where people should be more cautious to plan and avoid disasters.

He apprised all the HoDs/AHODs to ensure that they are prepared and to build up proper understanding and response.

Joint Chief Executive Officer, NSDMA, Home department, Johnny Ruangmei, in his introduction to NEPEx-Multi-State Mock Exercise, said the objective is to qualify the capability of the state in responding to an event of any disaster and to develop and strengthen awareness, preparedness response and recovery loss among others.

Individuals, governments, businesses and decision-makers can’t be strangers to disaster management, Ruangmei said.

Read more: Strong likelihood of big earthquake in Himalayan region, need to prepare better: Scientists

In Kohima, the mock drill exercise will start at 9:03am on 17 November with a siren sounding off at PHQ.

During the day-long programme on Tuesday, several officials talked about their roles in disaster management including OSD Disaster Management Department & SDMA, Government of Rajasthan, Brijender Singh; Deputy Commandant General Medozhalie Pienyu; NSDMA Jt Advisor (Ops) Nawal Prakash; and officials from the force.

The Department of H&FW, Police, Food & CS, Transport and Power department presented the disaster management plan on earthquake during the technical session.

Read more: NSDMA Peren holds tabletop exercise on earthquake scenario in Jalukie

The programme of Multi-State Level Mock Drill on Earthquake Disaster (NEPEx) was organised by the Nagaland State Management Authority in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority, Ministry of Home Affairs.