Uttarakhand: Disaster Management Department is busy in preparations for the 4 Dham Yatra, the departmental secretary held a meeting of the officials, said- Mock drill will be done in April to deal with the challenges

Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority has started its preparations for the upcoming Chardham Yatra. National Disaster Management Authority and Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority will jointly organize a mock drill in the month of April to effectively deal with possible disasters during the Chardham Yatra and to ensure the safety of Chardham pilgrims. Secretary Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Vinod Kumar Suman held a departmental meeting with experts from USDMA, ULMMMC and U-Prepare to organize the mock drill and discussed all aspects.

Secretary Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Vinod Kumar Suman said that continuous work is being done at the level of Disaster Management Department and USDMA to effectively deal with possible disasters during the Char Dham Yatra. He said that a tentative schedule has been received from NDMA regarding disaster-focused mock drill during the Chardham Yatra, in view of which USDMA has started its preparations. He informed that soon a meeting will be held with various districts and line departments in this regard and the preparations for the mock drill will be finalized.

Suman said that under the guidance and able leadership of Hon’ble Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority is committed to a safe Chardham Yatra and no stone will be left unturned to ensure the safety of the passengers in case of any disaster. He said that the departments like Tourism Department, Traffic Police, Local Administration, Police Administration, Transport Department, UCADA, Public Works Department, Border Road Organization, NDRF, SDRF, Health Department, Animal Husbandry etc. have an important role in ensuring the safety of the passengers in case of any disaster during the Chardham Yatra.

USDMA’s effort is to make the mutual coordination between all the departments so strong that the safety of the passengers can be ensured in a very short time in case of any disaster during the Chardham Yatra. He said that the response time is being reduced during disasters and the response time in Uttarakhand is continuously improving. He said that last year also a mock drill was organized by NDMA and USDMA to ensure successful conduct of Chardham Yatra and safety of pilgrims during disaster. The shortcomings that were left in the mock drill last time will be removed this time and a successful mock drill will be organized by incorporating the suggestions received from NDMA last year.

He directed the experts of USDMA to form various committees for mock drill as soon as possible and to inform the concerned departments by clarifying the role of various line departments during Chardham Yatra. He said that various line departments and their officers will be informed about the role of which department and which officer in effectively dealing with disasters under the IRS system.

Additional Chief Executive Officer Administration Anand Swaroop, Additional Chief Executive Officer, Implementation DIG Rajkumar Negi, Finance Controller Abhishek Anand, Joint Chief Executive Officer Mohd. Obaidullah Ansari, Director of ULMMC Shantanu Sarkar and experts from USDMA, ULMMC and U Prepare were present in the meeting.

Disaster management plan will be made for each Dham-Swaroop

Dehradun. In the meeting, Additional Chief Executive Officer-Administration Anand Swaroop suggested making a disaster management plan for each Dham to effectively deal with any disaster during the Char Dham Yatra. He said that if each Dham has a solid disaster management plan from the disaster management point of view, then various types of disasters can be dealt with in a better way. He also talked about making SOPs for all the districts related to the Char Dham Yatra. Secretary Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Vinod Kumar Suman said that guidelines will be issued in this regard in the upcoming meeting with various districts.

Learning from last year’s experiences is necessary-Negi

Dehradun. Additional Chief Executive Officer Implementation DIG Rajkumar Negi instructed the experts of USDMA to analyze what disasters have occurred during the Char Dham Yatra in the past years, how many people were affected by it, how many people were killed, where the roads were closed, what was the situation of the crowd, at which places there was excessive traffic jam, so that this time work can be done effectively in those areas. He said that every effort will be made to take advantage of the experiences of last year.

Three main districts, four transit districts

Dehradun. Let us tell you that Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Rudraprayag are the main districts for the Char Dham Yatra, while Tehri, Pauri, Haridwar and Dehradun come under the category of transit districts. According to the tentative schedule of the National Disaster Management Authority, an orientation and coordination conference will be organized on April 14. Table top exercise will be organized on April 22 and mock drill on April 24.

Districts will tell how the safety of the passengers will be ensured

Dehradun. During the mock drill, the preparations of various line departments regarding the management of Char Dham Yatra will be tested. Along with this, if there is a stampede due to increasing crowd during the Char Dham Yatra, landslides occur due to heavy rains and the roads are closed, there is a jam on the roads and markets due to traffic pressure, then a rehearsal will be done of what various departments will do to ensure the safety of the passengers.

The districts will also have to tell where the various resources like hospitals, helipads, alternative routes etc. are and their GIS location will have to be shared with USDMA. In the mock drill, the traffic management plan of various districts will be tested on the ground. What is the preparation of the districts regarding crowd management, these will also be tested on the ground.

If in case of any disaster or road closure, passengers have to be stopped, how will their safety be ensured and what arrangements will be made to keep them safe, this will not only be discussed during the mock drill, but the districts will also have to demonstrate all this at ground zero. Along with this, in case of increasing crowd, road closure and high traffic pressure, the districts will also have to make a route diversion plan and demonstrate its effectiveness during the mock drill.