J&K State Disaster Management Officers participate in INSARAG-Asia Pacific Mock Drill on Earthquake, at Agra .

 

Four-day INSARAG Search & Rescue Table-Top exercise on Earthquake preparedness concluded at Agra . The exercise was designed to simulate real-life earthquake and provided a unique opportunity to all the participants at the National and International level to learn the best practices of Search and Rescue.

Officers from various Countries, States and Ministries involved in management of earthquake participated in this exercise so as to provide them an opportunity to interact with International Search & Rescue Teams. Those who attended the mock drill from J&K include  Aamir Ali, Coordinator Disaster Management, Mohd Akbar Ganai, Addl DC Srinagar, MA Qadri, Addl DC Budgam, RT Dubey, Joint Director, Fire Services Kashmir, Suleman Chaudhary, Addl SP Budgam, Rajeshwar Singh, Addl SP Jammu, S.Salathia, Commandant Auxillary Police Jammu.

 The international exercise was organised by INSARAG (International Search & Rescue Advisory Group), UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

The event was inaugurated by Subodh Kant Sahay, Union Minister for Tourism, in presence of M. Shahshidhar Reddy, Vice Chairman, NDMA. The International exercise was also attended by J.K. Sinha, Member, NDMA, Patrice Coeur Bizot, United Nations Resident Coordinator, Terje Skavdal, Chief FCSS, OCHA Geneva. International Search & Rescue teams from participating countries attended the exercise which include Japan, USA, UAE, Mongolia, New Zealand, Singapore, Korea, UK, Indonesia. The exercise highlighted the importance of preparedness and awareness generation to tackle any situation arising from natural and man-made disasters and created a greater level of understanding of International disaster response so as to be better prepared during the times of a real disaster event.