Mega mock drill held in Delhi to check disaster awareness

Delhi witnessed one of the biggest coordinated mock drills on Wednesday, when disaster management agencies checked the alertness and preparedness of various other agencies.

The drills were conducted in several places, including at six Metro stations, across the national capital by the National Disaster Management Authority and the Delhi Disaster Management Authority at 11.30 am.

The drill's motive was to check the preparedness of the agencies in the event of a major earthquake.

Six metro stations were closed for over half-an-hour and road traffic in many areas in central, south and north Delhi were diverted as part of the exercise, causing major inconvenience to commuters.

Commuters in metros and buses as well as motorists also faced inconvenience because of the mega mock drill.

Organisers of the drill created a number of simulated situations like the collapse of flyovers, cracks in metro pillars, damage to hospitals and collapse of residential buildings due to an earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter Scale.

Officials from all the important Emergency Support Functionary departments like the police, MCD, DMRC, health department, Delhi Jal Board and Food and Civil Supplies have been coordinating with senior officials of all the nine districts to make the drill a success.