Major disaster relief exercise kicks off at SWAC, mock drill on major earthquake in Bhuj to follow

Gandhinagar: A three day Disaster Relief Exercise ‘SAHAYATA’ was today inaugurated by Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South Western Air Command, Air Marshal R K Dhir at Vayu Shakti Nagar here.

The aim of the exercise is to identify weaknesses in existing relief procedures during various disasters and calamities and enhance synergy amongst various agencies, to improve disaster prevention, mitigation and response.

Chief Secretary of Gujarat J N Singh in his key note address, emphasized upon better co-ordination, synergy and interface among different services and organizations providing disaster relief.
Defence Spokesperson Wing Commander Abhishek Matiman said that the three day exercise started with a table top discussion today which shall be followed by a mock drill simulating an earthquake in the Bhuj region on September 15 & 16.

NDMA, GSDMA, NDRF, Gujarat Police, State Fire Department, R&B, AAI, IIT, Media, State Medical Department, Adani Infra Institute besides Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, Indian Coast Guard, NCC along with other disaster relief agencies are participating in the exercise. This is the first such exercise bringing together Central and State Government agencies, Armed Forces, private companies, prime educational & research institutes and media, he said.

Disaster relief agencies demonstrated assets and their use in a static and aerial display at the Vayu Shakti Nagar Helipad after the table top exercise. The demonstration held in the afternoon comprised of showcasing capabilities of various agencies like the Indian Army, Indian Air Force, Gujarat Medical Authority, NDRF and BSNL.

The Table Top Exercise saw active participation by all the agencies involved, including media. It was seen that although organizations already have individual SOPs / broad outlines to deal with such natural disasters, there is a need to coordinate / synergise those in a way so as to be able to utilize all available resources in the most effective manner. This would enable the rescue / relief effort to reach the disaster victims by the most expeditious means, in turn alleviating the sufferings of the affected populace, Mr Matiman said.

DeshGujarat