State-level Mock Drill Exercise for Earthquake Emergencies in Gangtok

In order to prepare and educate the people in Sikkim about the emergency actions to be taken during an earthquake, a massive State-level mock drill exercise was carried out in the capital city Gangtok. However, different parts of all four districts of Sikkim too are covered for the mock drill exercise. The mock drill was designed and organized by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Chief Secretary, AK Shrivastava headed the entire State level mock drill along with the State Relief Commissioner as the Incident Commander in charge of issuing all the orders. A set of officers and field staff and all stakeholders were also present at the exercise to assist the officers and the people participating in the exercise. Other than them, the district level drill was carried out under the supervision of District Collector (DC) as the Responsible Officer and the Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) or Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) as the Incident Commander.

A mock scenario of an earthquake of magnitude 8.7 on Richter Scale was created at 11.15 am with Shillong being considered as the epicentre. The earthquake scenario comprised of landslides, buildings toppling, stampede and fire across Sikkim and West Bengal when came the challenges of evacuating a large number of people from a campus. Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (SSDMA) office at Manan Kendra was turned into the Main Control Room. The locations chosen for landslide are five sites in Sichey, buildings toppling near Vajra Cinema Hall, fire outbreak at Khadi Bhawan Deorali, a stampede at Trends Store in MG Marg and mass evacuation at Nar Bahadur Bhandari Degree College in Tadong. The STNM Hospital and CRH Manipal were also roped in for medical emergency services.

As the mock drill ends, the participants, officers and the assisting staff gathered at the mini auditorium at Manan Kendra for de-briefing on the day’s exercise. After feedbacks being taken from the independent observers deputed at various locations, suggestions and discussions were rendered for further assistance of the general public.