Mock quake drill on Nov 7
Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 13
The administration will conduct a mock drill on November 7 to gear up
the disaster management machinery for a quick response in case of an
earthquake.

While the entire state falls in sensitive zone, Kangra and Shimla
have been ranked as highly sensitive zones. In view of such a
situation, a mock drill was one of the ways to rehearse the response
plan jointly by the various government departments and NGOs.

Deputy commissioner J.S. Rana said the administration was preparing a
disaster master plan to put the response teams in action in minimal
time. He asked various departments concerned and the Army and the
paramilitary forces to draw their action plans to deal with such
situations and submit suggestions within a week so that these could
be incorporated in the master plan.

He said entire government machinery should work in unison and avoid
contradictions to cope with such situations. He said funds would not
come in the way of immediate relief and rescue operations to save
lives. Each department should submit a detailed report of the
available machinery and manpower besides listing their requirements.

Rana said Shimla was highly congested and precarious housing
structures posed a serious threat in the eventuality of a major
disaster. It had been divided into six sectors, each of which would
be supervised by a magistrate, while rural areas would be under SDMs,
BDOs and tehsildars.

Additional district magistrate Gopal Sharma gave a presentation on
earthquake disaster and action plan of the departments concerned.