The annual Nagaland Emergency Preparedness Exercise (NEPEx) 2022 on earthquake disaster scenario – a state-wide mega mock exercise – was conducted today in Kohima, organised by the Kohima District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) in collaboration with Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA).
During the mock exercise, a simulated earthquake scenario of 8.7 magnitude was created where buildings collapsed and fire incidents were created at five locations – Grace Higher Secondary School Bayavü, Dr N Kire Govt Higher Secondary School Siekhazou, Mt Olive College Daklane, Mao Market BOC, and one resident House No A236 at Officer’s Hill.
State Disaster Respond Force (SDRF), Medical, Fire and Emergency Services, Police personnel, and Kohima Village Youth Organization (KVYO) were involved in the search and rescue operation which consisted of a total of 19 casualties, two deaths, four seriously injured, and nine with mild injuries.
The mild injuries were administered with first aid by the rescue teams and serious casualties were taken to NHAK for necessary medical treatment. Police personnel were also deputed for crowd management at some affected sites.
The main staging area was staged at the ground of T M Govt Higher Secondary School Kohima where all the line departments and stakeholders reported at the staging area after the emergency siren was sounded at 9:03am to respond to the disaster.
The main observers for the exercise were S Jamir, Lt Col 1 Assam Rifle; Limaakum Jamir, Dy Commandant 10th NAP (IR); Matsungshilu, Dy Commandant 4th NAP; K S Meena, Dy Commandant 37 BSF Chedema; and R J Prasanna, Asst Commandant CRPF.
During the de-briefing, the observers congratulated the DDMA, search & rescue teams, and all the stakeholders for the successful conduct of the exercise. They were impressed by the overall setup of the exercise by the line departments and other stakeholders. However, the observers pointed out some areas which need more improvement for easy management and execution of the system put in place in the future.
They also observed that more of such exercises with the involvement of citizens should be carried out for more improvement and awareness in the future.
The Incident Commander & ADC Kohima, Rhosietho Nguori, said the exercise was conducted to test the capability of the district to respond and manage any mega-disaster and thanked all the line departments, stakeholders and KVYO for their cooperation and active participation in the exercise.
Various Section Chiefs in the Incident Response System (IRS) also shared their experiences and challenges met during the exercises.
