Tarun Karthick
Port Blair, 10 February 2023
To strengthen the Disaster Preparedness of Union Territory of A&N Islands, a State Level Mock Disaster Management Exercise (TATPAR-2023) was conducted on 09th February 2023 throughout the Islands. During the entire exercise, the operational efficacy of the UT Administration was tested. As soon as the INCOIS messages of Tsunami was triggered, the State Emergency Operation Centre, Directorate of Disaster Management, A&N Administration was activated and started sending bulletins about the possible occurrence of Tsunami to all the Emergency Operation Centres (EOCs), Control Rooms and all members of Incident Response Teams (IRTs) spread over A&N Islands.
Accordingly, the State, District, Sub Divisional and Zonal Level Incident Response Teams were activated. The Tsunami sirens were sounded in 37 vulnerable locations. Emergency alert messages were also sent from the State Emergency Operation Centre to all Emergency Support Functionaries (ESFs) to check their responses. The entire mock exercise was organized in coordination with the National Disaster Management Authority, Ministry of Home Affairs, GoI, New Delhi, Line Departments of A&N Administration, District Administrations (South Andaman, N&M Andaman and Nicobar), Armed Forces, NDRF, Police and other stakeholders of A&N Islands.
Mr. Nikhil Kumar, IAS, Commissioner-cum-Secretary (Disaster Management and Relief & Rehabilitation), A&N Administration and Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Sudhir Bahl, Sr. Consultant, NDMA, New Delhi monitored the State Level Mock Disaster Management Exercise from the Situation Room of the Disaster Management Department. During the Mock Exercise, various scenarios of Tsunami were painted before Incident Response Teams of UT, District and Sub-Division/Island levels and reviewed their preparedness and responses. They also interacted virtually with the Officials present at the Emergency Operation Centres in different Islands and took stock of their alertness, response and preparedness to deal with the situation in the wake of a disaster. This Mock Drill focused on information dissemination, alert & warning and response of IRTs of ANI. The basic objectives of this exercise, among other, were to measure how quickly and effectively to respond to save the precious lives.
Later, Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Sudhir Bahl, Sr. Consultant, NDMA, New Delhi accompanied by Mr. Nikhil Kumar, IAS, Commissioner-cum-Secretary (Disaster Management and Relief & Rehabilitation), Mr. A.S.P.S. Ravi Prakash, IAS Secretary (DM) and Dr. Nitin Shakya, Director (DM), A&N Administration and other senior Officers visited various mock incident sites to assess the preparedness and responses. The team first visited the Junglighat Fishermen Jetty and thereafter the evacuation routes at Japan road Dairy Farm, conveyance facilities for the affected persons, Relief Centre at ITF and Rabindra Bangla Vidyalaya, staging area at Zilla Parishad Office, food packets dropping by JOC, ANC, Helicopter at Netaji Stadium and facilities at G.B Pant Hospital. Mr. Suneel Anchipaka, IAS, Dy. Commissioner, South Andaman alongwith his team explained the overall responses of District Administration, South Andaman.
Later, at debriefing held in the situation Room of Disaster Management Department, Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Sudhir Bahl said such mock exercise in regular intervals tests efficiency of disaster management plans of ANI besides testing the success of the existing plan and how we can upgrade the existing system to another level for a better response in the wake of natural calamity. He also stressed upon the need for a quick and effective evacuation plan considering the tsunami threats in ANI to minimize the loss of lives. While expressing his satisfaction on the preparedness of the UT to handle natural calamities, he urged the UT Administration to work on the lessons learnt which has come across during the mock exercise today, so that it can be timely rectified and will be helpful during the occurrence of disaster or natural calamity, if any.
In his closing remarks, Mr. Nikhil Kumar, IAS, Commissioner-cum-Secretary (Disaster Management and Relief & Rehabilitation) stressed upon the active participation of all stakeholders to further improve and check their Disaster Management Plans and Standard Operating Procedures so that A&N Administration with the support of other stakeholders can effectively deal with natural calamities. Stating that Disaster Management is challenging in A&N Islands because of its geographical location and various risks towards disasters, the Commissioner-cum-Secretary underlined the need for better inter-Departmental co-ordination which is very essential to manage any crisis/disaster. He also extended his gratitude to National Disaster Management Authority, INCOIS, ANC, NDRF and all participants of this UT Administration for the successful conduct of State Level Mock Disaster Management Exercise (TATPAR-2023) in ANI.