Delhi readies for mass drill to test disaster preparedness

New Delhi - How will the capital react in the event of a high intensity earthquake? The test would be on in hundreds of locations across Delhi Wednesday with disaster  management teams fanning across schools, malls, markets, Metro stations and other places for simultaneous mock drills.

The mega mock drill, which will begin 11.30 p.m. and is likely to go on till 1 p.m., will be conducted by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Delhi Disaster Management  Authority (DDMA).

"Earlier we had done mock drills, but today's exercise is a big one, involving various institutions in the national capital. It will check the preparedness of various agencies by creating  simulated situations across the city involving schools, colleges, metro rail network, malls, markets, hospitals and road transport," an NDMA official told IANS.

The main aim of is to see real-time disaster response, the official said.

The mock drills will be conducted across 218 government-run and 24 private schools, 31 colleges, 11 government-run and 11 private hospitals, four cinema halls, 19 resident welfare  associations, 13 government office buildings, eight market trade associations and two petrol pumps.

It will also be held at three high rise buildings, eight malls, six Metro stations, four offices of the district commissioners, six flyovers, eight Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied

Petroleum Gas (LPG) stations, one foot over bridge, three slums, one petroleum installation and at Terminal 3 of the Delhi Airport.

"We have planned it like this... all the disaster management forces will swing into action as though a 7.9 magnitude earthquake on the Delhi-Moradabad fault line with its epicentre 275 km  from the city had hit the city," Vijay Dev, DDMA secretary, told IANS.

About 100 independent observers from the army and disaster management units will be placed in different locations to check how government organisations are responding to the mock drill.  After the mock drill a report on the state-level exercise will be prepared.

“Army officers will check how the various government agencies are dealing with a crisis and the coordination between them. Later, we will submit a report based on that,” Dev added.