Gurugram braces for mega quake mock drill

Gurugram, Dec 20 (IANS) Various security agencies will hold on Thursday a mega mock drill across Haryana on how to conduct rescue operations after an earthquake but motorists should be ready to face traffic jams as usual on the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway.

The exercise would help assess the preparedness of each district in the state to handle disaster management, officials said on Wednesday.

"The aim is to analyse how prepared we are to deal with a calamity and whether we have enough resources for disaster management," Gurugram Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh told the media. Police Commissioner Sandeep Khirwar was present at the event.

"As many as seven prominent sites in Gurugram district have been shortlisted as incident locations for the drill," Singh said.

Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), National Security Guard (NSG), Central Reserved Police Force (CRPF) and several other departments will participate in the exercise that will start at 10 a.m.

All hospitals, including private ones, have been directed to immediately treat the 'injured' brought to hospitals, said Singh.

The sites in Gurugram chosen for the drill include MGF Mall on MG Road, Rail Vihar near Subhash Chowk, MDI Institute on Sector 17, Udyog Vihar, HUDA City Centre, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India in Manesar and the Mini Secretariat.

Police vans will blow sirens at these locations.

"An emergency operation centre will be set up at the Mini Secretariat. During the exercise, all the teams will be connected to the control room via wireless," Singh said.

Khirwal said authorities had made adequate arrangements to ensure smooth traffic across the city that borders Delhi.

"Considering the panic among people during such exercises, a stampede is expected. The teams will have to ensure that no mishap happens," he added.

Asked about the daily traffic jams at the toll plaza leading to Delhi, the officers remained silent.

The toll plaza officials said they were unaware of the planned exercise.

"We have not received any letter or order from the administration to remove the boom barriers during the drill. Our functioning will be the same as on other days," Kirpal Singh, an official of the company managing the toll booth, told IANS.

(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)