7 districts in Uttarakhand are highly sensitive in terms of forest fire, mock drill will be conducted simultaneously on January 30
Every year, forest wealth worth lakhs is burnt to ashes in forest fires in Uttarakhand. In such a situation, emphasis is being laid on controlling the incidents of forest fires from now itself. In this episode, to get effective control and limit their expansion, mock drill will be conducted on 30 January at 17 places in 7 highly sensitive districts under the direction of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). Regarding the mock drill, senior officials of NDMA gave necessary guidelines through orientation and coordination conference.
NDMA’s focus on Uttarakhand
NDMA member Lieutenant General (Retd.) Syed Ata Hasnain said that Uttarakhand is a sensitive state regarding various types of disasters. Therefore, NDMA’s focus is on Uttarakhand. He said that every year in Uttarakhand, precious forest wealth is destroyed by fire. Therefore, it is important that forest fires are effectively controlled.
He said that the way forest fire was controlled in Almora and Nainital last year shows how strong and robust the disaster management system of Uttarakhand is. He said that mutual coordination, resources, knowledge and identification of disaster is necessary to deal with disasters. The more we work in the field of capacity development and training, the more effectively we will be able to deal with disasters.
Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman thanked NDMA for conducting mock drill on issues like forest fire and taking cognizance of the forest fire incident. He said that forest fire is a challenging disaster for Uttarakhand. It is hoped that this mock drill will prove useful in preventing incidents of forest fire and getting effective control.
He said that this mock drill will be conducted as per the guidelines of IRS (Incident Response System). On this occasion, NDMA Senior Advisor Commandant Aditya Kumar gave detailed information on all the technical aspects regarding the organization of the mock drill. He said that several teams of NDMA will monitor the mock drill at different places in Uttarakhand.
Forest fire is a serious disaster for Uttarakhand
Forest fire is a serious disaster for Uttarakhand. NDMA is trying to effectively control such incidents that occur annually. He said that forest fire not only damages forest wealth. But, there is also a possibility of loss of human life, adverse effect on health, animal loss and damage to land property.
He said that during the mock drill, fire fighters should have all the necessary equipment and proper arrangements for their own safety. He also gave a detailed list of necessary equipment. He asked to deploy drones, satellite phones, wireless phones, binoculars etc. in the mock drill. He also said that the IRS system tells what are the responsibilities and duties of which department and which officer.
Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said that people’s participation is necessary to deal with disasters effectively. Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority is working in this direction. Disaster management is not the subject of a department or a person. Rather, disaster can be dealt with in a better way only when various departments, NGOs and local communities work together.
Mock drill will be conducted in these 7 sensitive districts of Uttarakhand
Mock drill will be conducted in the 7 most sensitive districts regarding forest fire. Mock drill will be conducted in Almora, Nainital, Champawat of Kumaon and Dehradun, Tehri, Uttarkashi and Pauri districts of Garhwal. At the same time, before the mock exercise on January 30, a table top exercise will be organized on January 28. For which NDMA officials will come to Uttarakhand.
