1,000 officials at six locations take part in multi-hazard drill

Around 1,000 government officials of Gurgaon sprung into action on Thursday to conduct a mock multi-disaster drill at six prime locations in the city.

Around 1,000 government officials of Gurgaon sprung into action on Thursday to conduct a mock multi-disaster drill at six prime locations in the city.

The national and district disaster management authorities conducted the drill simultaneously at the Rites building in Sector 29, Power Grid Township in Sector 43, Gold Souk Mall in Sushant Lok 1, ITI Boys in Sector 14, Maruti plant in Sector 18 and Viom Networks in Old Gurgaon. (Abhinav Saha)

The drill was conducted as part of the district administration’s plan to strengthen the city’s disaster management plan.

The national and district disaster management authorities conducted the drill simultaneously at Rites building in Sector 29, Power Grid Township in Sector 43, Gold Souk Mall in Sushant Lok 1, ITI Boys in Sector 14, Maruti plant in Sector 18 and Viom Networks in Old Gurgaon.

Officials of the Haryana Urban Development Authority, Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon, Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited, Gurgaon police, civil defence, Haryana Roadways, fire services and health department helped the disaster management authorities to execute one of the biggest drills in Gurgaon till date.

The authorities constituted task forces that were headed by the tehsildars of Manesar and Farukh Nagar, among others. The official heading the mock exercise at a particular location were given wireless sets, which helped them maintain contact with the base emergency centre at Mini Secretariat.

Each task force comprised firefighters, a medical team and officials. Fire tenders and an ambulance were kept ready at all locations. The task force at the Rites building demonstrated preventive measures necessary during an earthquake. Around 800 employees were made to evacuate the building.

Fire tenders and an ambulance were kept ready at all six locations on Thursday. (Abhinav Saha/HT Photo)

Additional deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh and Major General (Retired) VK Dutta, an expert with the NDMA, supervised the drill. “Gurgaon falls in seismic zone 4. We roped in the army that acted as an observer. Haryana is constituting a state disaster response force,” Singh said.