The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) conducted a UT level Table Top Exercise (TTEx) on earthquake headed by Consultant (ME&IRS), NDMA, Major General Sudhir Bahl (Retd) under the chairmanship of Commissioner/ Secretary, Disaster Management, Ladakh, Saugat Biswas in presence of Chairman, DDMA, Leh, Shrikant Suse and CEO, DDMA, Leh, Sonam Chosjor at the DC Conference Hall on September 6.

Consultant, NDMA, Maj. Gen. Sudhir Bahl spoke at length about the Incident Response System (IRS) module and the role and functionaries of the Incident Response Team (IRT) which is essential to tackle any unfortunate incident or disaster effectively. He stressed inter-departmental coordination and advance coordination with other central government agencies such as armed and paramilitary forces in the context of their available resources and support system for effective management during a disaster.

He shared a detailed power point presentation highlighting the structured and organised manner of the IRS module including, the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), the role and responsibilities of the task forces, and members of the Incident Response Team. He stressed using modern technologies, such as drones and satellite imageries to assess and analyze the disaster damage and to prepare a planned and effective response.

Maj. Gen Sudhir Bahl added that effective disaster management preparedness and response are essential to mitigate the damages caused by the disaster in terms of human and material loss.

Earlier, District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), Leh, and several departments like Health, PDD, and FCS&CA presented presentations on their resource availability and disaster plan.
   
The Table Top Exercise presented hypothetical earthquake scenarios and deliberated on the consequent responses from the designated IRT team members, including the Incident Commander, Planning Section Chief, Operation Section Chief, Logistic Section Chief, and others.

The TTEx meeting involved HoDs and Officers of all the stakeholder agencies, including Revenue, District Police, UTDRF/ Civil Defense, Armed and Paramilitary forces like Army, ITBP, BRO, NHPC Nimoo-Basgo, NHIDCL, FCS&CA, PWD, PDD, Medical, Telecommunication, NYK and 13th Battalion, NDRF among others headed by Chairman, DDMA Leh, Shrikant Suse and CEO, DDMA Leh, Sonam Chosjor in Leh.

Similarly, the concerned officers and stakeholders from Kargil headed by Chairman, DDMA, Kargil, Santosh Sukhdeve were present through video-conferencing.

The Table Top Exercise is conducted as a precursor to the Mock Exercise on Earthquake to be held on September 8 in both Leh and Kargil districts to sensitize the stakeholders about the preparedness of the response mechanisms at the time of an earthquake.

The public is hereby informed about the scheduled mock exercise on earthquakes in both Leh and Kargil districts and any inconvenience caused due to it is regretted.